In a riveting, groundbreaking narrative, Russell Shorto tells the
story of New Netherland, the Dutch colony which pre-dated the Pilgrims
and established ideals of tolerance and individual rights that shaped
American history.
"Astonishing . . . A book that will permanently alter the way we regard
our collective past." --The New York Times
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. Russell Shorto draws on this
remarkable archive in The Island at the Center of the World, which has
been hailed by The New York Times as "a book that will permanently
alter the way we regard our collective past."
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.
