Dutch military history is an important part of our past and has influenced our landscape. If centuries ago many battles were fought at sea, water was also an important element in the defence of the government, king and capital. Inundation of a circle of low-lying areas around Amsterdam formed the basis of the Defence Line of Amsterdam, declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1996. 42 forts and batteries had to defend that Defence Line, but there was never any fighting. In four projects, I let the people involved in the forts tell their stories about past and present.
The projects are commissioned by Stichting Verhalen Verbinden. The books are published by the North Holland Publishing Foundation. Already carried out and published in book form are the following projects: