American historian John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) graduated from Harvard in 1831. During 1832 and 1833 he studied in Göttingen before returning to the United States. Already the author of two novels and numerous essays, he began to plan a history of the Netherlands, but, unable to find all the source material he needed in America, he returned to Europe in 1851, this time with his family. His first book on the subject was the widely acclaimed Rise of the Dutch Republic, which covered events up to 1584. Motley published this more ambitious four-volume sequel, covering events in the period 1584-1609, between 1860 and 1867. Volume 1 takes up the story from immediately after the assassination of William the Silent in 1584. It covers the formation of the political and military alliance between Holland and England against Spain and its allies during the period 1584-6.