Beschrijving

By the end of the Sixteenth Century the Netherlands could justifiably be considered as The Arsenal of the World. Until the early years of the Eighteenth Century the Dutch Republic exported vast quantities of arms and other habiliaments of war to the entire organized world. The extent of this trade and the amazingly short dilivery-times achieved by the manufacturers and merchants are discussed in detail. Also discussed for the first time are the salpetre trade in the Seventeenth Century and the quasi-legal arms trade with the North American Indians in the colony of New Netherlands.