The author, historian Han van der Horst, paints a picture of Dutch society and the Dutch psyche. The first edition (1995) became an immediate bestseller among expatriates in the Netherlands. In this new, seventh edition, completely updated version, Van der Horst once again portrays the weird and wonderful normality of life in the Netherlands.Han van der Horst explains not only how it all works in the Netherlands, but how it came to be that way, As he goes along het also sketches the dilemmas and taboos of modern Holland, and offers a run-down of the main themes of public debate.