The five books describe the characteristics of Dutch culture in a European context. It is a story of cultural patterns and peculiarities in the Netherlands. The books cover cultural history in the widest possible sense. They not only cover science, art, music and literature, but also education, religion and urbanisation. The historical series focuses on the cultural debate: how should you live and how should society be organised?
The titles of the five English books are:
1. Willem Frijhoff and Marijke Spies, 1650: Hard-Won Unity
2. Joost Kloek and Wijnand Mijnhardt, 1800: Blueprints for a National Community
3. Jan Bank and Maarten van Buuren, 1900: The Age of Bourgeois Culture
4. Kees Schuyt and Ed Taverne, 1950: Prosperity and Welfare
5. Douwe Fokkema and Frans Grijzenhout, eds., Accounting for the Past: 1650-2000
As well as this series, the programme saw the publication of some 20 monographs and dissertations as well as a large number of publications in scientific and specialised journals. The priority programme ran for nine years and involved ten universities.
The research was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.