The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America - Hardcover

9780385503495: The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
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. 

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Back Cover:

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

About the Author:

Russell Shorto is the author of two previous books: Gospel Truth, about the search for the historical Jesus, and Saints and Madmen, about psychiatry and religion. The hub of his research for The Island at the Center of the World was the New Netherland Project at the New York State Library, where the archives of the Dutch colony centered on Manhattan are being translated. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, GQ, and many other publications. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife and their two daughters.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherDoubleday
  • Publication date2004
  • ISBN 10 0385503490
  • ISBN 13 9780385503495
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages384
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781400078677: The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  1400078679 ISBN 13:  9781400078677
Publisher: Vintage, 2005
Softcover

  • 9780552999823: The Island at the Centre of the World : The Untold Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Founding of New York

    Black ..., 2005
    Softcover

  • 9780385603249: The Island at the Centre of the World

    Doubleday, 2004
    Hardcover

  • 9780786268351: The Island At The Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America

    Thornd..., 2004
    Hardcover

  • 9780965904407: The Island at the Center of the World

    Doubleday, 2004
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.60
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
LibraryMercantile
(Humble, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # newMercantile_0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 28.07
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.90
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.95
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0385503490-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 42.47
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0385503490-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 44.92
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Hafa Adai Books
(Moncks Corner, SC, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # Hafa_fresh_0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 48.40
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.95
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 2
Seller:
Save With Sam
(North Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # VIB0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 57.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(North Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 1.55. Seller Inventory # Q-0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 59.47
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.28
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Shorto, Russell
Published by Doubleday (2004)
ISBN 10: 0385503490 ISBN 13: 9780385503495
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0385503490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 69.10
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book