The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas is a tale of two tulip-fanciers – Dutchmen obsessed with growing (or stealing) a 100 000 guilder-winning black tulip. Set against the backdrop of post-Reformation Holland, the story is a mix of historical novel, floriculture and laughing at the lengths that two men will go to for a tulip and that one woman will go to for a tulip-fancier. Apart from the lynching at the beginning this is a light and diverting classic. It was also short and easy to get into at only 180 pages.