This is a portrait of life, thought and art in 14th- and 15th-century France and the Netherlands. Regarded as an historical classic by many scholars, it has also been criticized and incorrectly translated. This edition corrects changes made by other translators to the original Dutch text of 1919. For Huizinga, the 14th and 15th centuries marked not the birth of a dramatically new era in history - the Renaissance - but the fullest, ripest phase of medieval life and thought. However, his work was criticized at home and in Europe for being "old-fashioned" and "too literary". Franz Hopman adapted, reduced, and altered the Dutch edition, softening Huizinga's passionate arguments, dulling his nuances, and eliminating theatrical passages. He also dropped many passages Huizinga had quoted in their original old French. Additionally, chapters were rearranged, all references were dropped, and mistranslations introduced. This translation attempts to correct such errors, recreating Huizinga's Dutch edition, restoring the missing material, including prose quotations in French with translations, and returning the book to the form originally intended by its author.
