[This book] gives a panoramic view of the fascinating 'Noble Company', which would eventually have been 'Perished Under Corruption'. The book offers the big picture and the small anecdote. It sheds light on the
multifarious trade areas between the Cape of Good Hope and Japan, life in Batavia, at sea and at home in the Netherlands, and on a procession of colourful people. From the cruel governor-general Jan Pietersz Coen to the Moluccan rebel Captain Jonker: all made the VOC what it was.
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