Rembrandt's life coincided with what the Dutch refer to as their "golden age." This engagingly written study presents a rich picture of a dynamic society that had torn itself away from the mediocrity of its past - a stagnant nation of peasants and fishermen - to pursue an overseas empire that led to great financial wealth and a highly sophisticated cultivation of the arts. This classic work first appeared in English translation in 1963. Among the myriad topics covered are homes, gardens, clothing, food, religion, childrearing, education, medicine, sports and games, holidays and celebrations, painters, musicians, writers, the theater, publishing, aristocrats, workers, peasants, the merchant fleet, the armed forces, trading and colonizing companies, fisheries, and the famous Holland dikes.