Dimensions
128 x 197 x 20mm
The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions it Aroused
In 1630s Holland thousands of people, from the wealthiest merchants to the lowliest street traders, were caught up in a frenzy of buying and selling. The object of the speculation was not oil or gold, but the tulip, a delicate and exotic bloom that had just arrived from the East. Over three years, single rare tulip bulbs changed hands for sums that would have bought a house in Amsterdam. Fortunes were made overnight, but then lost when, within a year, the market collapsed, with disastrous consequences.
'Tulipomania' recreates this bizarre episode in European history, separating myth from reality. It traces the hysterical boom and devastating bust, beautifully evoking Holland's Golden Age.
