9 h 46 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 46 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your school is a ship, and your next lesson waits beyond the dikes of Holland?
In Dikes and Ditches; Or, Young America in Holland and Belgium, Oliver Optic follows American boys through the Low Countries. Their ship serves as both school and home. From its deck to the streets of European towns, travel brings adventure and lessons about places, trades, customs, and history.
Here, banks of earth hold back the sea, while ditches and canals drain the fields. The landscape itself gives the boys something to discover. Part of the Young America Abroad series, this story pairs youthful company with an earnest wish to teach. Its plain morals and period manner offer a window into nineteenth-century American views of Europe.
What you’ll discover
- A school at sea Join American youths whose floating home carries their education into unfamiliar places.
- Land against the sea Explore a landscape where dikes, ditches, and canals help keep the fields dry.
- Europe through young eyes Follow the boys from shipboard life into the towns of Holland and Belgium.
- Adventure with a purpose Find a storyteller who brings travel, practical knowledge, and plain moral lessons together.
- A window into childhood Discover how nineteenth-century American fiction encourages boys to look at the wider world.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy sea stories with young heroes, school rivalries that test character, and travel tales of windmills, canals and cathedrals.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Greek lesson while a squall gathers
- Paul leaves class and the hurricane strikes
- A wrecked galiot and a family to save
- The students give away their prize
- Lowington settles the first quarrel
- Antwerp, Rubens and a lesson in dikes
- The professor is hazed, step by step
- Cities, kings and a forged note
- Authority, fairness and the struggle against water
- A story told through lectures and journeys
Who’s who
- Paul KendallThe sixteen-year-old captain of the schooner Josephine, who wants to keep his vessel and crew safe and to treat everyone fairly.
- Professor HamblinThe senior instructor of Greek and Latin, stern and proud, who wants his authority obeyed and his learning honored.
- Mr. LowingtonThe principal of the academy squadron, who wants his sailor-students to learn judgment and who tries to be fair to both sides.
- Professor StouteA fat, good-natured professor of French who laughs often and gives Paul honest praise.
- Dr. WinstockThe ship's surgeon and Paul's friend, who explains the sights of Europe and speaks his mind about teachers.
- TerrillThe Josephine's first lieutenant, loyal and outspoken, who wants to defend his captain.
- Captain SchimmelpenninkThe Dutch skipper of the wrecked galiot, who has lost two relatives and fears losing his only property.
- PerthThe leader of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, a group of mischievous students who plan to seize the Josephine.
Formats and delivery
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Dighe e fossati; ovvero, il Giovane America in Olanda e Belgio
by Oliver Optic · 1868
A sixteen-year-old captain defies his Greek teacher as a hurricane closes in on a schooner full of students.
Medium level5–10 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
Can a schoolboy be trusted with a ship? Mr.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Greek lesson while a squall gathers
The book opens in the German Ocean, scarcely twenty miles from the mouth of the Scheldt. The Young America and the Josephine drift on light airs with every scrap of canvas set. Black clouds pile up in the west, and thunder rolls over the water.
Mr. Lowington watches the Josephine with growing alarm. The ship has taken in her light sails, yet the schooner still carries her big square sail. Flag-officer Gordon sends up the signal Take in sail.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1868
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Optic, Oliver. Dikes and Ditches; Or, Young America in Holland and Belgium. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/dikes-and-ditches-or-young-america-in-holland-and-belgium.
Optic, O. (2026). Dikes and ditches; or, Young America in Holland and Belgium. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dikes-and-ditches-or-young-america-in-holland-and-belgium (Original work published 1868)
Optic, Oliver. Dikes and Ditches; Or, Young America in Holland and Belgium. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dikes-and-ditches-or-young-america-in-holland-and-belgium.
@book{optic2026dikes,
author = {Optic, Oliver},
title = {Dikes and Ditches; Or, Young America in Holland and Belgium},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dikes-and-ditches-or-young-america-in-holland-and-belgium},
note = {First published 1868}
}
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What is Dikes and Ditches about?
It follows the students of a floating academy as their ship and schooner reach Holland and Belgium. A storm, a rescue at sea and a feud between a captain and a professor drive the story, with tours of Dutch and Belgian cities.
Who is Professor Hamblin?
He is the senior Greek and Latin instructor on the Josephine. He values obedience and learning, but he has trouble understanding the sea, and his clash with Captain Kendall causes most of the trouble in the book.
What is a galiot?
A galiot is a broad Dutch trading vessel used on coasts and rivers. In the story, the Wel tevreeden of Dordrecht capsizes in a squall, and the Josephine's crew rescues the skipper's family and saves the boat.
The author
Oliver Optic
1822–1897 · American children's author
Oliver Optic was the pen name of William Taylor Adams (1822–1897), an American author and teacher. Born in Medway, Massachusetts, he lived and worked in Boston. He wrote books for young readers during the nineteenth century, including The Yacht Club and Little by Little. He also served in the Massachusetts legislature.
More by Oliver Optic
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