Come along with that spell-binder, Peter Spier, on a historical trip through the Netherlands. Find out about the centuries-old war that the Dutch have waged against the sea. OF DIKES AND WINDMILLS is the story, lovingly told, of the indomitable will of a people to build a land where only the sea existed before.

Here is a book that tells of terrible floods in which thousands of lives were lost, then describes how a battleship was once captured by a group of soldiers on horseback. You will learn how to send signals by the arrangement on the blades on a windmill, and hear about a walking tour through a community that was once an island town and suddenly found itself in the middle of a meadowland.

This is Peter Spier's Holland, but you will find yourself learning to appreciate the country and its people of iron will, perversity, love of life, courage, energy and the innate ability to make things work. This is high adventure about the triumph of the human spirit over the forces of nature.

From the dust jacket