The Island at the Center of the World

This history of early New York City covers the period when the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam was a sprawling seaport, full of activity and promise. Shorto conveys a sense of place and offers portraits of two key players, the more well-known Peter Stuyvesant, governor, and Adriaen van der Donck, a lawyer and historian, whose nearly-lost papers formed the research core for this history. Shorto conveys the political debates of that time, and tells how the Dutch colony's legacy of individual freedom was later to influence the founding fathers. A New York Times Notable Book for 2004. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.