Praise for "The Island at the Center of the World"
"Russell Shorto's dramatic adventure tale about the settling of
Manhattan will transform the way we look at American history. The
Dutch colony, founded just three years after the Puritans landed in
Massachusetts, quickly became the gateway for Germans, Italians,
Jews, Scandinavians, Africans, and others who created the
pluralistic mix that would define a new nation. Shorto's book
recounts the fascinating struggle between Peter Stuyvesant and the
lesser-known but more influential Adriaen van der Donck, whose
appreciation for individual tolerance laid the foundation for our
Bill of Rights and helped to create our national character. It's
also the story of the remarkable age of exploration led by Henry
Hudson and others who spread the culture of the European
Renaissance to a distant wilderness. Based on a wealth of documents
that archivist began translating forty years ago, Shorto has
produced both a triumph of scholarship and a rollicking narrative.
The result is an exciting drama about the roots of America's
freedoms." --Walter Isaacson, author of "Benjamin Franklin: An
American Life"
""The Island at the Center of the World "ranks among the best books
ever written about New Amsterdam, the Dutch settlement on Manhattan
that would become New York City. Shorto's prose is deliciously rich
and witty, and the story he tells--drawing heavily on sources that
have only recently come to light--brings one surprise after
another. His rediscovery of Adriaen van der Donck, Peter
Stuyvesant's nemesis, is fascinating." --Edwin G. Burrows, coauthor
of "Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898," winner of the
Pulitzer Prize for History
Praise for "The Island at the Center of the World
"Russell Shorto's dramatic adventure tale about the settling of
Manhattan will transform the way we look at American history. The
Dutch colony, founded just three years after the Puritans landed in
Massachusetts, quickly became the gateway for Germans, Italians,
Jews, Scandinavians, Africans, and others who created the
pluralistic mix that would define a new nation. Shorto's book
recounts the fascinating struggle between Peter Stuyvesant and the
lesser-known but more influential Adriaen van der Donck, whose
appreciation for individual tolerance laid the foundation for our
Bill of Rights and helped to create our national character. It's
also the story of the remarkable age of exploration led by Henry
Hudson and others who spread the culture of the European
Renaissance to a distant wilderness. Based on a wealth of documents
that archivist began translating forty years ago, Shorto has
produced both a triumph of scholarship and a rollicking narrative.
The result is an exciting drama about the roots of America's
freedoms." --Walter Isaacson, author of "Benjamin Franklin: An
American Life
""The Island at the Center of the World ranks among the best books
ever written about New Amsterdam, the Dutch settlement on Manhattan
that would become New York City. Shorto's prose is deliciously rich
and witty, and the story he tells--drawing heavily on sources that
have only recently come to light--brings one surprise after
another. His rediscovery of Adriaen van der Donck, Peter
Stuyvesant's nemesis, is fascinating." --Edwin G. Burrows, coauthor
of "Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, winner of the
Pulitzer Prize for History
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