List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Forestroke
1. Bells for America
2. The Smallest Bell (1952)
3. Casting the Carillon (1954)
4. A Modernist Tower on the Monumental Axis (1960)
5. A Cold War Relic (1995)
Conclusion: The Echo of Dissonance
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Diederik Oostdijk is Professor of English Literature at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is the author of Among the Nightmare Fighters: American Poets of World War II and coeditor of Tales of the Great American Victory: World War II Politics and Poetics.
“For my country, the Netherlands Carillon is a symbol of gratitude
for the role the U.S. played during and after World War II. It’s a
beacon of the lasting friendship between our countries that goes
back more than four hundred years. Studying the origin of the
carillon serves as a constant reminder that we need to cherish this
relationship, and I welcome the effort Diederik Oostdijk undertook
to shine new light on this historic monument that stands tall over
Washington, D.C.”—Henne Schuwer, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands in the United States
“A fascinating story of a monument hidden in plain sight. It is as
a work of writing that the book stands out—a work of feeling. Bells
for America is a meditation on human society, on its failures and
blunders and hopes. Almost always inharmonious, such a society
still dreams of making perfect sounds.”—Alexander Nemerov, author
of Soulmaker: The Times of Lewis Hine
“A great accomplishment of Oostdijk’s history is to reveal the
passions and machinations behind the carillon’s deceptive
simplicity. It is the rare piece of architecture writing that
exposes what you can’t see simply by looking at the work.”—Bradford
McKee Landscape Architecture Magazine
“Oostdijk’s book recounts the bumpy ride of the Netherlands
Carillon. In Washington, nothing that big and prominent is without
controversy.”—John Kelly The Washington Post
“Oostdijk takes us with heartfelt understanding from the inception
of the carillon idea to fund raising, site selecting, building,
maintaining, and more recent efforts to restore the monument—all
the while tracing the influence of the Cold War on these
steps.”—Verena B. Drake Journal of American History
“Bells for America presents a sophisticated interdisciplinary
analysis, neatly combined with lively anecdotes as well as some
more personal reflections. The book is visually appealing and well
illustrated while the writing generally flows smoothly from the
pages through colorful prose. It provides valuable contributions
not just to the specific history of Dutch-American relations, but
to broader academic debates about the role of monuments and
commemorations, gift giving and expressions of gratitude—and the
vital role of non-state actors in this context—as part of the
broader diplomatic process.”—Albertine Bloemendal Diplomatica
“This cultural history, ostensibly on the esoteric subject of
building a Dutch carillon in the U.S. capital, is also a first-rate
diplomatic history book. Diederik Oostdijk uses his nation’s gift
of gratitude for exploring America’s confusing Cold War policies. .
. . The physical well-being of this carillon—a musical instrument
of fifty mostly dissonant bells housed in a modernist steel
tower—serves as symbol for the geopolitical ups and downs in the
post–World War era.”—Verena B. Drake Journal of American History
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