These studies by the distinguished economic and social historian Herman Van der Wee together provide a superb guide to the history of this key part of the European economy in the early modern period. The coverage embraces the history of trade, agricultural and industrial production, prices and monetary history, consumption and diet in the Ancien Regime.

Based throughout on detailed reconstruction of statistical sources - many not previously explored - the bulk of these essays have been translated from Dutch or French and appeared in publications which have sometimes been difficult to access for English readers.

The collection begins with two surveys of the major developments and issues in the economic history of the Low Countries. The author then considers agricultural productivity and innovation before dealing in three major papers with the international commercial relations of the Southern Netherlands and its metropolis, Antwerp. These are rounded out by studies of monetary policies and financial and credit techniques emphasising the pivotal role of Brabant and the Antwerp money market.

Some of these themes are again taken up by the essay on prices and wages as development variables. In two articles on industrial structure and production, Van der Wee examines proto-industrialisation in the context of the Low Countries economy, before finally considering social trends and diet.

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These studies display the close familiarity with documentary sources, careful use of quantitative evidence, and rigorous formulation of economic and social relationships which are the hallmark of the historian's work. The detailed methodological discussions of the key relationships between agricultural and industrial production and consumption also provide a model for cognate work in this field.

As such, the book will be essential reading for all historians of Early Modern Europe, as well as appealing to those with a particular interest in the economic and social background of the Dutch Revolt.