What did the seventeenth-century poet and diplomat Constantijn Huygens write about? What made Multatuli, author of Max Havelaar, the best-known Dutch writer of the nineteenth century? What was the impact of the Second World War on Dutch literature? To which literary tradition do such authors as Hugo Claus, Hella S. Haasse, Harry Mulisch, and Cees Nooteboom belong? The answers are found in this detailed survey by leading scholars, which begins with Bernlef, a troubadour born in Friesland in 750 AD, and ends with recent developments in Dutch writing such as Mulisch's The Discovery of Heaven and Van der Heiden's autobiographical cycles. The reader will find a wealth of information about the development of Dutch and Flemish literature over twelve centuries, including innovations in poetry, drama, and the novel. The influence of European cultural currents -- from Romanticism to naturalism, from the Chanson de Geste to the realistic novel -- is also given its due. Anyone not yet acquainted with Dutch literature will be struck by its breadth and versatility: from lyrical poetry to surrealism, from realistic to supernatural writing, from the sentimental to the absurd. Satire, polemics, literary or socially committed essays -- all have a place in this history, a valuable reference work for scholars and an accessible introduction for all those curious about the literature of the Netherlands and Flanders.