Focusing on the late Eighteenth Century and early Nineteenth Century, Blueprints for a National Community describes the transition of the federative Republic into the unified Kingdom of the Netherlands, which for fifteen years also included Belgium. This revolution was more than a political incident, and resulted from an extensive debate about the organization of society. The authors show how much energy and creativity was mobilized at this time, in order to adjust what had become a rather archaic society to changing conditions, and to offer the perspective of a new future.

JOOST KLOEK is Professor of the Social History of Literature at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He has published books on the early reception of Goethe's Werther, on the production, distribution and consumption of literature, and on literature education. WIJNAND MIJNHARDT is a Professor at Utrecht University in The Netherlands.