The Great Level
Book description
A 'magical, haunting' (Philippa Gregory) novel of a tragic love affair in a threatened world
In 1649, Jan Brunt, a Dutchman, arrives in England to work on draining and developing the Great Level, an expanse of marsh in the heart of the fen country. It is here he meets Eliza,…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Great Level as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Fiction allows for the portrayal of a kind of absorption in the processes and materials of a historical period that is unusual in nonfiction. It can give a powerful sense of how time actually passed for people. Vermeer’s chaotic domestic routine as a painter was splendidly imagined by Tracy Chevalier in Girl with a Pearl Earring, for example. But the technical innovators of the Dutch Golden Age – the telescopists, the astronomers, the surveyors and engineers – are yet to be celebrated in this way. Sadly, nobody has written the story of Simon Stevin, who built a sand-yacht that…
From Hugh's list on understanding the Dutch Golden Age.
Want books like The Great Level?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 95 books like The Great Level.
Browse books like The Great Level
5 book lists we think you will like!
Interested in Colonial America, New York City, and the Dutch Golden Age?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Colonial America, New York City, and the Dutch Golden Age.