William the Silent and the Dutch Revolt examines the first stages of the Dutch struggle against Spanish rule during the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The book analyses the causes of growing discontent in the Netherlands and the various stages of the revolt, focusing on the key tipping points where discontent and violent upheaval escalated to become a national struggle for independence. The book also provides comparative analyses of insurgencies in the modern era and examines how popular discontent throughout history has often developed into struggles for full independence. The book is a key resource for scholars and students of early modern European history, as well as those interested in the history of revolts.

‘An enthralling historical account of a successful revolt against a powerful empire, and then trenchant analysis of how revolts and insurgencies are triggered which reveals important lessons learned for those studying and fighting insurgency and terrorism’

Patrick Sookhdeo, Honorary Professor and Research Associate in the Department of Religion Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa

‘Extremely valuable reading for all students studying terrorism, insurgency and international affairs’

Juul Gooren, Senior Lecturer, The Hague University of Applied Social Sciences, Netherlands

Nick Ridley is a Visiting Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University. He formerly worked as an intelligence analyst at the UK Metropolitan Police and at Europol. He has taught international relations and anti-terrorist studies at several European universities, and lectured on anti-terrorist courses at the NATO Centre of Excellence-Defence against Terrorism.