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Title: An easy, in-depth read
Review: Mike Dash's "Tulipomania" is typical of the current crop of "popular" history books. Much like Dava Sobel's "Longitude", Mr. Dash takes a narrow topic/event and dissects it in great detail, while presenting his findings in a manner that is palatable to the academic and non-academic alike. The Dutch Tulip Craze of 1636-37 is one of the most overworked stories in the world of business, but Mr. Dash does well in interweaving his narrative of the Craze with anecdotal stories of the famous and common people whose lives were affected. The description of economic conditions and everyday life are rich and detailed. (Anyone in the brewing industry will salivate at the beer-consumption figures for Haarlem in 1636!) But the book does not get bogged down in detail and keeps a fast pace. Though not as strong as "Longitude", "Tulipomania" is a worthy addition to the canon of microhistorical works.
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