Hello and welcome to a very special episode of The Rest is History.

We are here in the heart of Amsterdam surrounded by bicycles and trams and thousands of people.

And we are here Tom thanks to Wise, the account that lets you send, spend and receive money

internationally. Tom we are going on a Dutch adventure. We are to learn about the

heart of the Netherlands. I really hope that was going to happen but he has done his

Dutch accent. So we are going on a Dutch adventure to learn about the history of Amsterdam

and Tom thanks to Wise we'll be spending like locals. We will. So yes we're here in Amsterdam

and we thought you love the Netherlands, you're always going about how you love the Dutch

and Dutch history. Well I'll hold it obviously. So we thought it would be a fun thing to

do to come to this corner of North Western Europe and to tell the story of the Netherlands

through the history of Amsterdam and through a selection of buildings. So you've chosen

your favourite historic sites in the city of Amsterdam and we are going to be exploring

the themes of capitalism, of liberalisation, the religious tolerance of the Dutch.

Yeah because you say that this is an episode about the Netherlands as well as Amsterdam.

Dominic I would go further and say it's a history of the world. Amsterdam is one of those

cities that has profoundly shaped the entire course of global history. Well don't people

sometimes say this is the great birthplace or one of the great birthplaces along with

I suppose London, Genoa, Venice, I don't know of capitalism, of modern international capitalism.

Absolutely and we will be exploring one of the great kind of shrines to that emergence of

capitalism. But I think of all the cities that have played outsize roles in global history.

You've been one of those places that have altered and changed the course of world history.

Amsterdam for me is I think my favourite because it's the least grandiose, it's the least

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