While it is generally recognized that the Dutch played a prominent part in the world economy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, most studies of Dutch long-distance shipping and trade have focused on Asia and neglected the Atlantic region. In this volume, eight scholars contribute their expertise on Dutch trade with Africa, the Americas and the West Indies, and demonstrate that Dutch trade in the Atlantic was far more extensive and valuable than has generally been assumed, and exceeded the trade with Asia at that time. Supported by extensive archival research and quantitative data, the study makes a strong appeal for a reassessment of Dutch maritime commerce of that period, and should stimulate further research of Dutch Atlantic trade. Riches from Atlantic Commerce has been selected by Choice as Outstanding Academic Title (2005). Contributors include: Christopher Ebert, Victor Enthoven, Henk den Heijer, Han Jordaan, Wim Klooster, Eric Willem van der Oest, Johannes Postma, Claudia Schnurmann, and Stuart B. Schwartz.

Heaven's Wrath explores the religious thought and religious rites of the early Dutch Atlantic world. D. L. Noorlander argues that the Reformed Church and the West India Company forged and maintained a close union, with considerable consequences across the seventeenth century. Noorlander questions the core assumptions about why the Dutch failed to establish a durable empire in America. He downplays the usual commercial explanations and places the focus instead on the tremendous expenses incurred in the Calvinist-backed war and the Reformed Church's meticulous, worried management of colonial affairs. By pinpointing the issues that hampered the size and import of the Dutch Atlantic world, Noorlander revises core notions about the organization and aims of the Dutch empire, the culture of the West India Company, and the very shape of Dutch society. Open Access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.