Spain vs. Holland: The Eighty Years War in 90 Minutes

From the everything-old-is-new-again department, Spain and Holland will re-enact the Eighty Years War in tomorrow’s World Cup final. One can only hope the match does not mirror that long-ago conflict, which was a plodding war of attrition, fought primarily on neutral turf, with much brutality and few moments of heroic action. Rubens, of course, tried desperately to bring a halt to that conflict — the subject of my book. For a bit more on how the World Cup will channel the first truly global war, check out my essay at Mediaite. [For the record: The image above, Velazquez’s Surrender at Breda, marks one of the signal Spanish victories in the war, though it had essentially no effect on the eventual outcome.]