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The Island At The Center Of The World
Russell Shorto
The Epic Story Of Dutch Manhattan And The Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
Vintage
April 2005
On Sale: April 12, 2005
416 pages
ISBN: 1400078679
EAN: 9781400078677
Paperback
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Historical | Non-Fiction History
When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in
1664, the truth about its thriving, polyglot society
began to disappear into myths about an island purchased for
24 dollars and a cartoonish peg-legged governor. But the
story of the Dutch colony of New Netherland was merely lost,
not destroyed: 12,000 pages of its records–recently declared
a national treasure–are now being translated. Drawing on
this remarkable archive, Russell Shorto has created a
gripping narrative–a story of global sweep centered on a
wilderness called Manhattan–that transforms our
understanding of early America.
The Dutch colony
pre-dated the “original” thirteen colonies, yet it seems
strikingly familiar. Its capital was cosmopolitan and
multi-ethnic, and its citizens valued free trade, individual
rights, and religious freedom. Their champion was a
progressive, young lawyer named Adriaen van der Donck, who
emerges in these pages as a forgotten American patriot and
whose political vision brought him into conflict with Peter
Stuyvesant, the autocratic director of the Dutch colony. The
struggle between these two strong-willed men laid the
foundation for New York City and helped shape American
culture. The Island at the Center of the World
uncovers a lost world and offers a surprising new
perspective on our own.
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