New York: The Novel

The author has captured the times brilliantly! You can see, hear and even smell Old New York! The characters are mostly fictional, but they are well drawn and their circumstances are entirely believable. One of my favorite things about the characters is that no one is a candidate for sainthood. They seem like real people who are the products of the times in which they lived. And for anyone who thinks of slavery as just a southern thing; think again! Both the Dutch who founded the city and the English who followed them were up to their necks in the slave trade! This book is educational enough to be banned! Lol!

Wonderful and engaging book. Amazing how the author uses the history of New York and the country as a backdrop to the lives of his created characters. You will not be disappointed.

Excellent. I'm from New York so it was especially familiar and enjoyable. His other books are equally good. 5 stars for sure.

New York by Edward Rutherford is the 4th historical novel of his that I've read. The others books I've enjoyed were Russka, Princes of Ireland and Rebels of Ireland. "New York" does not disappoint. Mr. Rutherford creates colorful historical fiction. He spans decades, indeed centuries, using actual historical figures interwoven with rich, memorable characters. Although his novels are never short, the reading of them literally flies by as you are immersed in the storyline. His writing is reminiscent of James Michener's novels. It's a telling tale about the beginning of New York as a settlement and takes you right into the drama of today. Count me as a fan and I look forward to his future novels.

Don't expect this book to be historically accurate on all counts, but it is close enough to blend reality with fiction and keep the reader engaged. If you are a nitpicker as to NYC history and are expecting perfection, this is not a book for you. However, if you want a great novel, with ties to a great city, that is used in all its splendor, glory, good and bad as a relatively accurate backdrop for a very engaging novel you will love this book. As a NYC history buff I can say that whatever leeway the author took to make the book more enjoyable, was well worth it. I didn't quite get the visceral feel of NYC I got with other books, but there was enough for the casual reader and the storyline was well done. In fact, in many ways, I am glad the author did not overshadow the characters with the background of NYC. The author made a wise choice in this regard. For those who needing a more in depth perusal of NYC history as many will want after reading this book, I would recommend Gotham.

Edward Rutherfurd, whose sweeping historical epics introduced us to 10,000 years of ancient SARUM and thousands of years of LONDON, now turns his historical pen to that young upstart of the west --- New York City. One of the greatest cities of the world, New York City saw its humble beginnings in a tiny Indian fishing village in the forests of Manhattan in the mid-1650s. The ancient cities of Europe and the Orient had flourished for thousands of years before the rustic trading center in New Amsterdam began to bustle with ships sailing across the Atlantic into its natural harbor. In this history, the Master family, descended from the earliest traders, is followed through many generations and historical events in NEW YORK: THE NOVEL. They and their families are portrayed in this epic saga covering the great events that shaped our new nation. Rutherfurd explores the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the numerous stock market crashes, the racial divides that occurred as each new wave of ethnic immigrants swept ashore to start new lives in the promised land. We've read of these historical events in some of our country's greatest literature, but Rutherfurd's take on our history is seen through the eyes and experiences of New Yorkers, who were often not as closely involved as one might assume. Many might be surprised to learn that in the 1760s and 1770s, New York's role in the American Revolution was neutral. New York at first abstained from signing the Declaration of Independence and stayed at arm's length from the war until British ships were almost in New York Harbor. We learn that this is because the majority of influential New Yorkers were royalists who regarded the upstart revolutionaries of Boston and Philadelphia as rabble rousers who should at the very least be ignored, if not hanged for treason. The Revolutionary War was an annoyance to New Yorkers that interfered with trade and the booming commerce that would come to define the city. The Civil War was also viewed from afar. The lucrative slave trade that sustained the trading routes of the Dutch West India Company --- and the many others that developed in the first 150 years --- was jeopardized by the threatening secession from the Union by the South. From its very beginnings, New York was about banking and making money. Unlike the industrial South and the growing inland cities, it did not manufacture goods; it marketed them. It did not grow crops; it traded them and invested the profits on Wall Street. If patriotism stirred the early New Yorker, it was about profit; it tended to leave the flag waving and fighting to the rest of the country. Street demonstrations in later years were more apt to be about suffrage, prohibition and social causes than about taking up arms in civil and international wars. The early slave holders in the Master family gradually change to more progressive thinking, but are still torn --- even as slavery is abolished --- to holding to the old ways. The family enc