War, Trade and the State

A reassessment of the Anglo-Dutch wars of the second half of the seventeenth century, demonstrating that the conflict was primarily about trade.

This book re-examines the history of Anglo-Dutch conflict during the seventeenth century, of which the three wars of 1652-4, 1665-7 and 1672-4 were the most obvious manifestation. Low-intensity conflict spanned a longer period. From 1618-19 hostilities in Asia between the Dutch and English East India Companies added new elements of tension beyond earlier disputes over the North Sea fisheries, merchant shipping and the cloth trade. The emerging multilateral trades of the Atlantic world added new challenges. This book integrates the European, Asian, American and African dimensions of the Anglo-Dutch Wars in an authentically global view. The role of the state receives special attention during a period in which both countries are best understood as 'fiscal-naval states'. The significance of sea power is reflected in the public history of the Anglo-Dutch wars, acknowledged in the concluding chapters. The book includes important new research findings and imaginative new thinking by leading historians of the subject.

DAVID ORMROD is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Kent.

GIJS ROMMELSE was Head of History at the Haarlemmermeer Lyceum in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, and an Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of Leicester.

Elizabeth Edwards is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Kent and was from 1994-2007 Director of the Kentish Regional and Local History degree programme.