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Title: Wonderful!
Review: As a history buff, there is nothing more exciting than finding a well-written book on an aspect of history that I know nothing about. This book on the tulip wars or mania of the Netherlands is written with wit, style and surprising depth for such a short work. I read Tulipomania after reading Longitude, which I found rather disappointing with its extremely narrow focus, and its inability to make Harrison come alive as a human being (although I understand the author was hampered by lack of primary sources). Tulipomania makes these 16th and 17th century people come alive and seem relevant to our day (I'm thinking about the stock market fascination with all the dotcoms of the Internet). I would give the book 5 stars, except for it would have really benefited by some drawings of those wonderous flowers.
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