A book that will permanently alter the way we regard our collective past.
Before the Pilgrims landed, the Dutch were building something radical on a swampy island: a colony of tolerance, free trade, and individual rights. This riveting history reveals how Dutch Manhattan—not Puritan New England—became the true blueprint for American democracy. Essential, eye-opening reading.
$20.00
Long before the Mayflower dropped anchor, the Dutch were building something radical on a swampy island at the edge of the known world: a colony that valued free trade, religious tolerance, and individual rights. The Island at the Center of the World pulls back the curtain on New Netherland, the forgotten Dutch settlement that became the blueprint for American democracy.
Russell Shorto draws on a stunning archive—12,000 pages of Dutch colonial records, now declared a national treasure—to resurrect a cosmopolitan, polyglot society that feels remarkably modern. At the heart of this groundbreaking narrative is Adriaen van der Donck, a progressive young lawyer whose political vision clashed spectacularly with the iron-fisted Governor Peter Stuyvesant. Their battle of wills didn’t just shape Manhattan; it helped define the American character itself.
Hailed by The New York Times as “a book that will permanently alter the way we regard our collective past,” this riveting history transforms the caricature of peg-legged governors and $24 real estate deals into something far more consequential. Shorto reveals how Dutch ideals of tolerance and freedom—not Puritan severity—laid the cultural foundation for New York City and, ultimately, the nation.
This updated edition includes a new preface and postscript, offering fresh perspective on a colony that was never truly lost, just waiting to be rediscovered. For anyone curious about the real origins of American liberty, this is essential, eye-opening reading.
A book that will permanently alter the way we regard our collective past.
Astonishing... A groundbreaking work of American history.
Absorbing... A book that will permanently alter the way we regard our collective past.
Stunning... Shorto's lively, readable style makes this a must-read for anyone interested in early American history.
Colorful and engaging... Shorto's account of this clash, and of the colony's subsequent conquest by the English, is absorbing.
Fascinating and important... Shorto has done a superb job of research and writing.
| Weight | 0.84 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 5.15 × 0.82 × 7.95 in |
| Fiction Type | |
| Book Author | |
| Subject | 17th Century, Colonial Period (1600-1775), History, Middle Atlantic (dc, De, Md, Nj, Ny, Pa), Modern, State & Local, United States |
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