In years to come, the past decade will be characterized as one of revolt against liberalism. With the election of Barack Obama in 2008, liberalism appeared to reach new heights. But the year also marked what, to many, seemed like the beginning of the end. Election after elec tion around the globe …

During the Middle Ages and early modern period, a dramatic culture of astonishing vitality developed in the Low Countries. Owing to the activities of organisations known as rederijkerskamers, or "chambers of rhetoric", drama became a central aspect of public life in the cities of the Netherlands. The …