The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America

THIS INCREDIBLE BOOK IS SO VERY WELL-WRITTEN AND BRINGS SOME NEWLY DISCOVERED HISTORY TO THE NEW YORK AREA. IT IS OUTSTANDING!

I have lived in Manhattan for more than 30 years. But until I read this book, I assumed that the character of New York-commercial, contentious, tolerant, and multi-ethnic-was the product of European mass migrations starting, I suppose, with the Irish in the mid-nineteenth century. But, Shorto argues persuasively that this personality took hold much earlier. In fact, he shows how New York's character descends directly from the tolerant and litigious culture of the Dutch, a mighty commercial power in early 1600's, who founded a trading post and village on Manhattan in 1623. I, for one, am convinced. I also enjoyed this book for its resurrection of Peter Stuyvesant, who, to most New Yorkers, is simply the Dutch governor with a peg leg who retired to what is now the Lower East Side. Thankfully, Shorto fills out this picture and shows Stuyvesant as an autocrat who opposed democratic reforms. These bubbled up from the colony's earliest settlers, who believed such reforms might prevent the misrule that, in one case, lead to a bloody war with indigenous Americans. A good read and highly recommended.

Over the past few years, I've begun reading histories of Manhattan and this particular book is among the very best. It illuminates the hitherto shadowy world of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, and persuasively, vividly demonstrates the cultural debt we owe those early settlers. Perhaps most importantly, Russell Shorto infuses his story with suspense, humor, pathos and brilliant characterization. WOW! What a terrific writer!