Orange Sky, Rising Water: The Remarkable Past and Uncertain Future of the Netherlands

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Nicholas Walton

Orange Sky, Rising Water

The Remarkable Past and Uncertain Future of the Netherlands

Nicholas Walton

$39.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

C Hurst & Co
01 January 2026

History; Political ideologies; Global warming; Travel writing

From climate change to far-right politics, a captivating look at the Netherlands' modern challenges

and an homage to the timeless ingenuity of the Dutch.

From deeply unpromising marshy beginnings, the Netherlands grew into a naval, imperial, artistic, cultural, economic, scientific, agricultural and footballing superpower. How did it get there?

Journalist Nicholas Walton paints a vivid portrait of one of the world's most remarkable places. Drawing on interviews and his own years living in the Netherlands, as well as Dutch history and popular culture, he tells a story of floods and riots, engineering brilliance and wartime treachery. Through ten walks around their towns and cities, fields and beaches, he reveals how the Dutch built a system that organised politics and tamed the water. But now, the country faces an unpredictable future: sea levels are rising, and extreme weather is swelling the rivers that cut across this flat land. At the same time, farmers are protesting with their tractors on the streets and voters are voicing their discontent over everything from immigration and inequality to a dysfunctional housing market.

Amid the existential challenges of the twenty-first century, Orange Sky, Rising Water asks whether the extraordinary Dutch success story can continue

or will the country, its people and its way of life be swept away?

By: Nicholas Walton
Imprint: C Hurst & Co
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781805264156
ISBN 10: 180526415X
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 01 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Nicholas Walton is a journalist and hiker based in Genoa. He has worked as a BBC correspondent in Sarajevo, Warsaw and Moscow, and for think tanks including the European Council on Foreign Relations and the World Resources Institute. His previous books with Hurst are Singapore, Singapura and Genoa, 'La Superba'.

Reviews for Orange Sky, Rising Water: The Remarkable Past and Uncertain Future of the Netherlands

‘A fond, funny and sometimes critical account of this remarkable country that has defied nature for centuries—and will have to keep defying it as the waters rise. Walton is a wonderful guide to the Netherlands’ hidden oddities, and perhaps even to the country’s soul.’ -- Simon Kuper, author of Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK ‘The Netherlands is a wonderful, important and still underrated country. Nicholas Walton’s Orange Sky, Rising Water is the best introduction to the country I have found.’ -- Tyler Cowen, author of The Complacent Class and Average Is Over ‘In muddy Holland, where the Dutch struggle to survive climate change and the bluntness of their fellow citizens, Walton found natural beauty, plenty of history—and some disturbing traits of these funny-talking people. Food for thought, wrapped in English wit.’ -- Pauline Terreehorst, de Volkskrant columnist, and author of Secrets of a Suitcase: The Countess, the Nazis, and Middle Europe’s Lost Nobility