More of a historical fiction piece about van Loon's ancestor, who was the occasional doctor to and more often friend of Rembrandt. I enjoyed the historical background of the times and was entertained by the adventures of Dr. van Loon. I was a bit surprised to discover that the good doctor was trying to experiment with cannabis to relieve pain in his patients. That's pretty daring, both for the 1600s and 1930, when my edition was printed. ( )

This is one of the first Van Loon's I bought. It is a very large book, 570 pages of fairly close type with some prints of Rembrandt's prints scattered through it. I really enjoyed it. Not only did Van Loon make Rembrandt an interesting person, the style of writing used was good to read. It is one of my favourites. ( )