Travel like a Zelensky. Safe with a book, and in the footsteps of the Father of the Nation

René van Stipriaan won last year with The Silent: The Life of William of Orange the Libris History Prize. Now the literary historian presents a new book about the Father of the Fatherland (1533 – 1584). In The travel book of William of Orange he takes the reader on a campaign and flight.

Tens of thousands of kilometers are covered in the richly illustrated book. On horses and in carriages, from fortresses to palaces. In Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and, of course, the country we now call the Netherlands.

The description of that restless and dangerous existence, aimed at (re)conquering property and amassing power, provides a handy picture of a decisive period for the Dutch state. ‘It was a time of war and upheaval, with an ever-threatening final demise’, Van Stipriaan warns in advance. And then take off at full speed. Carrying the reader along.

Heiligerlee, Boertange, Coevorden

And so we (ir)regularly end up in these parts. In Coevorden, at the time one of the few gates to the North. In Heiligerlee, where the first battle of the Eighty Years’ War is said to have taken place. In Boertange, where William of Orange determined that a fortress should be built. In Groningen, where he encountered great distrust. In Leeuwarden, where his brother Jan tried to drive out Catholicism.

It is not surprising that thoughts occasionally wander to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky. William of Orange also had to show his face everywhere for years to gain and maintain support. It cost him his life, but in the end his goal was achieved, despite enormous odds on paper: a free republic with much prosperity in the offing. Especially in Holland, that is.