From the Low Countries with Tender Loving Care, an “annual mix of historical and contemporary topics” aimed to present to the world the culture and society of the Dutch‐speaking area which embraces both The Netherlands and Flanders, the northern part of Belgium. Published by the Flemish‐Netherlands Association Ons Erfdeel vzw, with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Den Haag), the Flemish Ministry of Culture (Brussels), and the Provinces of West and East Flanders, this yearbook is now firmly established as a primary source of authentic information on its specific geographic area. Its Editorial Board consists of nine individuals from the Dutch/Flemish language area, while the Advisory Committee – 29 strong – is drawn from eight countries worldwide.
The theme of TLC 16 is Love and Lust and Low Adventures (pp.10‐268). Lavishly and beautifully illustrated in colour and black and white, essays, poems, and stories map the theme intelligently and interestingly. Sexual emancipation, courtly love, nineteenth century pornography, Surinamese marriage, dangerous liaisons, sexual otherness, the photos of Carl De Keyzer, the fate of Yiddish architecture, city poets, Bruges painter Johannes Stradanus – just a few of the intriguing components of the thematic symposium.
Chronicle (the regular current‐awareness component of each annual volume) (pp. 269‐315) has critical essays and news spanning the topics of Architecture (e.g. Francine Houben); Film and Theatre; History (History of Royal Dutch Shell; Ernest Mandell); Language (Languages in Europe); Literature (The Secret Key to The Waste Land); socialist Hans Koning (1921‐2007); Music (Schoenberg Ensemble); Philosophy and Science (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences); Society (Shareholder Power: ABN AMRO); Visual Arts (Design Academy Eindhoven) – and much more.
Throughout, contributions are expert, well written and well translated. The range of topics is extraordinary. As a reliable panorama of culture and social institutions in the Netherland and Flemish Belgium, presented in English, TLC is unique. No library with any interest in European Studies should be without the whole series (the content of which – 1 to 16 – is accessible at the web sites: www.onserfdeel.be and www.onserfdeel.nl).
