Orange Sky, Rising Water
The Remarkable Past and Uncertain Future of the Netherlands
From climate change to far-right politics, a captivating look at the Netherlands’ modern challenges—and a homage to the timeless ingenuity of the Dutch.
Description
From unpromising marshy beginnings, the Netherlands grew into a maritime, cultural, economic, scientific, agricultural and footballing superpower. How did it get there?
Journalist Nicholas Walton paints a vivid portrait of one of the world’s most remarkable countries. Drawing on interviews, his own life in the Netherlands, Dutch history and popular culture, he tells a story of floods and riots, engineering brilliance and wartime treachery. Through ten walks around towns and cities, fields and beaches, he reveals how the Dutch built a system that organised politics and tamed the water. But now, the Netherlands faces an unpredictable future as extreme weather threatens the flat landscape. Meanwhile, farmers are protesting on the streets and voters are voicing discontent over everything from immigration and inequality to a dysfunctional housing market.
Orange Sky, Rising Water asks whether the extraordinary Dutch success story can continue—or will the country, its people and its way of life be swept away?
Reviews
‘A fond, funny and sometimes critical account of this remarkable country that has defied nature for centuries—and will have to keep defying it as the waters rise. Walton is a wonderful guide to the Netherlands’ hidden oddities, and perhaps even to the country’s soul.’ — Simon Kuper, author of Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK
Author(s)
Nicholas Walton is a journalist and hiker based in Genoa. He has worked as a BBC correspondent in Sarajevo, Warsaw and Moscow, and for think tanks including the European Council on Foreign Relations and the World Resources Institute. His previous books with Hurst are Singapore, Singapura and Genoa, ‘La Superba’.
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