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The Resource The island at the center of the world : the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America, Russell Shorto

The island at the center of the world : the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America, Russell Shorto

Creator
Summary
In a landmark work of history, Russell Shorto presents astonishing information on the founding of our nation and reveals in riveting detail the crucial role of the Dutch in making America what it is today. In the late 1960s, an archivist in the New York State Library made an astounding discovery: 12,000 pages of centuries-old correspondence, court cases, legal contracts, and reports from a forgotten society: the Dutch colony centered on Manhattan, which predated the thirteen "original" American colonies. For the past thirty years scholar Charles Gehring has been translating this trove, which was recently declared a national treasure. Now, Russell Shorto has made use of this vital material to construct a sweeping narrative of Manhattan's founding that gives a startling, fresh perspective on how America began. In an account that blends a novelist's grasp of storytelling with cutting-edge scholarship, The Island at the Center of the World strips Manhattan of its asphalt, bringing us back to a wilderness island, a hunting ground for Indians, populated by wolves and bears, that became a prize in the global power struggle between the English and the Dutch. Indeed, Russell Shorto shows that America's founding was not the work of English settlers alone but a result of the clashing of these two seventeenth century powers. In fact, it was Amsterdam, Europe's most liberal city, with an unusual policy of tolerance and a polyglot society dedicated to free trade, that became the model for the city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan. While the Puritans of New England were founding a society based on intolerance, on Manhattan the Dutch created a free-trade, upwardly-mobile melting pot that would help shape not only New York, but America. The story moves from the halls of power in London and The Hague to bloody naval encounters on the high seas. The characters in the saga-the men and women who played a part in Manhattan's founding, range from the philosopher Rene Descartes to James, the Duke of York, to prostitutes and smugglers. At the heart of the story is a bitter power struggle between two men: Peter Stuyvesant, the autocratic director of the Dutch colony, and a forgotten American hero named Adriaen van der Donck, a maverick, liberal-minded lawyer whose brilliant political gamesmanship, commitment to individual freedom, and exuberant love of his new country would have a lasting impact on the history of this nation
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
The island at the center of the world : the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America
Title
The island at the center of the world
Title remainder
the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America
Statement of responsibility
Russell Shorto
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
In a landmark work of history, Russell Shorto presents astonishing information on the founding of our nation and reveals in riveting detail the crucial role of the Dutch in making America what it is today. In the late 1960s, an archivist in the New York State Library made an astounding discovery: 12,000 pages of centuries-old correspondence, court cases, legal contracts, and reports from a forgotten society: the Dutch colony centered on Manhattan, which predated the thirteen "original" American colonies. For the past thirty years scholar Charles Gehring has been translating this trove, which was recently declared a national treasure. Now, Russell Shorto has made use of this vital material to construct a sweeping narrative of Manhattan's founding that gives a startling, fresh perspective on how America began. In an account that blends a novelist's grasp of storytelling with cutting-edge scholarship, The Island at the Center of the World strips Manhattan of its asphalt, bringing us back to a wilderness island, a hunting ground for Indians, populated by wolves and bears, that became a prize in the global power struggle between the English and the Dutch. Indeed, Russell Shorto shows that America's founding was not the work of English settlers alone but a result of the clashing of these two seventeenth century powers. In fact, it was Amsterdam, Europe's most liberal city, with an unusual policy of tolerance and a polyglot society dedicated to free trade, that became the model for the city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan. While the Puritans of New England were founding a society based on intolerance, on Manhattan the Dutch created a free-trade, upwardly-mobile melting pot that would help shape not only New York, but America. The story moves from the halls of power in London and The Hague to bloody naval encounters on the high seas. The characters in the saga-the men and women who played a part in Manhattan's founding, range from the philosopher Rene Descartes to James, the Duke of York, to prostitutes and smugglers. At the heart of the story is a bitter power struggle between two men: Peter Stuyvesant, the autocratic director of the Dutch colony, and a forgotten American hero named Adriaen van der Donck, a maverick, liberal-minded lawyer whose brilliant political gamesmanship, commitment to individual freedom, and exuberant love of his new country would have a lasting impact on the history of this nation
Biography type
contains biographical information
Cataloging source
BKL
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Shorto, Russell
Dewey number
974.7/102
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
  • plates
  • facsimiles
Index
index present
LC call number
F128.4
LC item number
.S56 2004
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Minuit, Peter
  • Stuyvesant, Peter
  • Donck, Adriaen van der
  • Donck, Adriaen van der
  • Minuit, Peter
  • Stuyvesant, Peter
  • Dutch Americans
  • Dutch Americans
  • Politics and government
  • New York (N.Y.)
  • Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)
  • New York (N.Y.)
  • New York (N.Y.)
  • New York (State)
  • New York (State)
Label
The island at the center of the world : the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America, Russell Shorto
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Note
Originally published: New York : Doubleday, 2004
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 352-372) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
21 cm
Edition
1st Vintage books ed.
Extent
xiv, 384 pages, [16] pages of plates
Isbn
9780670065042
Lccn
2003055227
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
Specific material designation
regular print
System control number
  • (OCoLC)ocm59716812
  • (OCoLC)59716812
Label
The island at the center of the world : the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America, Russell Shorto
Link
Publication
Note
Originally published: New York : Doubleday, 2004
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 352-372) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
21 cm
Edition
1st Vintage books ed.
Extent
xiv, 384 pages, [16] pages of plates
Isbn
9780670065042
Lccn
2003055227
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
Specific material designation
regular print
System control number
  • (OCoLC)ocm59716812
  • (OCoLC)59716812

Subject

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