Bibliographical Records

International Bibliography of Military History 33 (2013) 165–223 brill.com/ibmh

General

de Kruijf, T.; et al. (eds.): Atlas van historische verdedigingswerken in Nederland: Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe (Utrecht, 2013) 304 pp., ill., cart., bibl., ind., ann., ISBN 978-90-5345-465-7.

The Atlas of Historic Defence Works in the Netherlands: Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe

This fourth part of The Atlas of Historic Defence Works in the Netherlands is an extensive reworking of a brochure published by the Menno van Coehoorn Foundation in 1955. This current reworking is enriched with a large amount of new historical research. In nine chapters, the book goes into the history of numerous types of fortifications found in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe, built according to the ideas of the time regarding military defence. After the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces in 1588, for centuries the aforementioned provinces in the north-east of the Netherlands acted as a geographical unit in military terms. The emphasis was no longer on fortresses in the more cen- tral parts of the provinces. The state of the terrain at the time, i.e., expan- sive marshes in Drenthe and East Groningen and rivers in southern Friesland, demanded that a cohesive defensive system be put in place for protection against external threats. Intruders attacking from the south or north-east could only make use of a handful of roads. Fortifications were often built at strategic points along these roads (and along the border with German principalities), such as at Coevorden and Bourtange. It is therefore no coincidence that the emphasis in this “atlas” is on the era of the Dutch Republic (1588-1795), when particularly at the beginning of this period a real “ramparts war” was raging. In the twentieth century, the emphasis shifted towards reinforced concrete fortifications elsewhere in the provinces under the influence of changing weaponry (heavier cannons) and the changing landscape (the land was being reclaimed by pumping the water away). On the eve of the Second World War, casemates were built in all

Bibliographical Records / 166 International Bibliography of Military History 33 (2013) 165–223 three of the provinces in question (at Vlagtwedde in Groningen and Kornwerderzand in Friesland, for example) with the objective of delaying and/or stopping any enemy advance through the area. After the German invasion of 1940, the German occupier added its own bunkers to the origi- nal Dutch defence system, for example on air bases and the Wadden islands, as part of its own Atlantikwall (Atlantic Wall).

Anselm van der Peet Netherlands Institute of Military History (NIMH)

Klooster, Vincent A.J.; Kolff, Dirk H.A. (eds.): Driftig van spraak, levendig van gang. Herinneringen van marineofficier D.H. Kolff (1761-1835), Werken uitge- geven door de Linschoten-Vereeniging, CX (Zutphen, 2011), 222 pp., ill., bibl., ind., ann., ISBN 978-90-5730-724-9.

Of Animated Speech and Lively Gait. The Memoirs of Naval Officer D.H. Kolff (1761-1835)

The memoirs of Dirk Kolff form yet another delightful volume in the Linschoten series. The adventures of this high ranking, yet controversial naval officer span the eventful period from the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780-1784) to the first years of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1813-1817). Kolff witnessed and often played an active role in many of the well-known and sensational episodes of his time. We get eyewitness accounts of the disastrous foundering of the ship of the line Unie in 1782, the memorable expedition of Willem van Braam to the East-Indies in 1783-1785, complete with the capture of a pair of elephants for stadtholder William V, and the Prussian campaign against the Dutch Patriots in 1787. When the French bring about the Batavian Revolution in 1795, Kolff shows no qualms about joining the revolutionary navy. He commands a ship during the battle of Camper down (1797) and is present when the Dutch squadron in the Vlieter surrenders to the British fleet in 1799. For his role in this last event he is imprisoned and sentenced to death, but he manages to escape with the help of his eleven year-old daughter and lies low in Germany for the rest of the Napoleonic period. When the Kingdom of the Netherlands is installed in 1813, Kolff returns to pursue his naval career, but finds that his earlier side-switching has not been forgotten. After one voyage to Surinam he is pensioned off in 1817. Kolff’s firsthand accounts are of prime interest to the historian, while his nonchalant prose and his humour make him very accessible to the general