The Island At The Center Of The World: The Epic Story Of Dutch Manhattan, The Forgotten Colony That Shaped America

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth reading!
Review: Being both a native Manhattan-ite, and of Dutch descent, I'd have to say that in the NYC public school system of the 30's and 40's, good as it was, the origins of New Netherland were scarcely covered. Certainly the additional information contained in this book (which perhaps to an historical scholar may be too 'readable' and occasionally repetitious ) is a worthwhile addition to understanding how the Dutch influenced the future character of Manhattan. The documents which are currently being translated and on which most of Shorto's book is based, will surely become part and parcel of a more balanced view of Manhattan's earliest history.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific read about a lost chapter of History
Review: I was very pleased to come across this book. It takes a look at the true founding fathers of New York. This book supplies an answer to the question "where did New York get it's the liberal sensibility from ? Certainly not from Boston with it's Puritans." It came from the Dutch. This is a captivating story told in a spellbinding manner. By turns it is humorous, tragic,moving, and breathtakingly exciting.
I would rate this book as enjoyable as anything by Walter Isaacson,Stephen Ambrose,Edmond Morris.
I read it in one sittting just because I couldn't put it down. It is a must read for History fans. I never thought I would find myself cheering on someone with a name of Adrian Van Der Donck. In fact I did. A testiment to the skillful writing of Russell Shorto.

Rating:
Summary: Refreshing Look at Colonial History
Review: It is hard to picture Manhattan as the Dutch first saw it. It is hard to picture the Dutch here at all, as a matter of fact. Colonial history has always had such a strong Anglo bias that the Dutch (and New York, itself) never make much impact in the histories of America in the seventeenth century, focusing as it does so often on the Puritans and Pilgrims of New England. The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto is a successful attempt to correct that for a pop history reading public. He makes a strong case for the importance of the early Dutch settlers as a harbinger of the future of New York (and hence America) as a multicultural nation that values individual liberties and respect religious freedoms, not values shared by the Puritans farther up north. His case is frequently overstated and not always backed up with the stongest evidence (cole slaw is mentioned a number of times as a prime example of Dutch influence) but the story he tells of this early colony is a fascinating one that deserves telling. By the end of the book, it is no longer quite so difficult to picture Manhattan as the Dutch first saw it and fought for it, with the natives, with the English, but, mostly, with each other. A wonderful slice of New York history.

Rating:
Summary: Stick with it
Review: My heart sank when I started the first chapter of "Island at the Center of the World": "On a late summer's day in the year 1608, a gentleman of London made his way across that city." Yo Russell, I spent good money on your book, I don't like being served up warmed-over literary devices like the "you are there" intro. Slang uses of words like "weird" and bitchy" sprinkled over the first dozen or so pages also rang false, as per other reviews. But Shorto's enthusiasm, humility and the intrinsic originality of "Island's" thesis eventually won me over. I would have liked to have read more about daily life in the colony and heard a bit less about prostitutes (have a good time researching in Amsterdam, Mr. Shorto?), but in all this is a worthy and enjoyable book. The author makes a strong case for the lasting impact of the Dutch legacy of diversity and religious toleration on American society, and the roots of that legacy in Dutch and European history. Judging by the recent brouhahas over Janet Jackson and Howard Stern, however, it may be too soon to downgrade Puritan legacies like prurience and hypocrisy as cultural mainsprings. Overall, a well-written and interesting work.

Rating:
Summary: The Dutch Were Advocates of Multiculturalism?
Review: Shorto's book is uneven. For people who know little about early colonial history, it provides some interesting information about New Amsterdam and the politics of colonization. The most dynamic part of the book is the tension between Stuyvesant, the director of New Amsterdam, and van der Donck, attorney, activist, and reformer who sought to give the colonists some voice in the West India Company's control over the town's governance. Although Shorto promises to provide new and vital information about New Amsterdam based on the recent translation of heretofore unavailable (in English) records, the promise is not really fulfilled. The new information consists, essentially, of accounts of law suits, brawls, and mismanagement. I would encourage readers to overlook this unfulfilled promise as typical publishing hype. Harder to overlook is Shorto's own political agenda. At every opportunity, Shorto insists on telling readers that New Amsterdam was a diverse community where blacks, Indians, and Jews were "tolerated" and that New Amsterdam laid the foundation for contemporary America's embrace of diversity and multiculturalism. This sort of redundancy is tremendously annoying--even somewhat insulting. Moreover, it reflects a lack of critical vision that is unacceptable in a history book. The mantra of "strength in diversity" is largely wishful thinking, and there are any number of examples that illustrate how unrestrained diversity weakens society. Consider the rise of identity politics over the last two decades and the fate of public education owing to the huge number of non-English-speaking students in our classes. Shorto would have produced a better book if he had stuck to history and left his political editorializing at home.

Rating:
Summary: The unbelievable Dutch Contributution to America
Review: Up to now the preponderant view held by many historians is that Dutch contribution to American history and particularly to that of New York has been one of irrelevancy. As we no doubt realize, the winners write history, and unfortunately, whatever the losers may have contributed, it seems to be lost or forgotten in the shuffle.

Fortunately, during the past thirty years and thanks to the translation of many Dutch records that have been recently discovered pertaining to the early colony of New Netherlands, a different picture has emerged.
It is this new perspective that author Russell Shorto has vividly and brilliantly captured in his latest gem of a book entitled, The Island at the Center of the World.

Shorto devotes considerable ink in defending his thesis that the success of Manhattan as a commercial center, or New York, as it was renamed after the British takeover, did not begin with the English but rather had very deep roots in the early Dutch community. It was in fact in the late 1640s that the city of New Amsterdam under Dutch rule began its rise to become North American's shipping hub.
Furthermore, one of the key actors who played a pivotal role in the community was, up to now, a long forgotten visionary, Adriaen van der Donck, who often found himself, locked in a power- struggle with Peter Stuyvesant. The latter has always been more recognizable than the former, particularly due to the fact that it was he who surrendered the Dutch colony to the British.

What was very little publicized up to now was that van der Donck had being heavily influenced by the more progressive thinking of some of Europe's most enlightened thinkers as Descartes, Grotius, and Spinoza. It is the freedoms espoused by these thinkers that van der Donck believed in. Eventually, they would find root in the Dutch colony, ultimately becoming the foundation of many of the democratic principles forming the basis of the American cultural, economic and sociological psyche.
On the other hand, Stuyvesant, who lacked the same formal education as van der Donck, was stuck in his old tyrannical concepts and narrow- minded prejudices, which effect was to stifle the aspirations of the inhabitants of the Dutch colony. It is fortunate for the USA that the theories and beliefs of van der Donck won out.

As a side note and to indicate the extent of the Dutch influence on American culture, Shorto also reveals such interesting tidbits as what settlers emigrating to the Dutch colony would bring along with them, the derivation of words such as cookies, cole slaw and Santa Claus, that can all trace their roots to the Dutch colony of New Netherlands.
We also have an overview and some fascinating insights as to what actually transpired between the Dutch and the English at the time the latter took possession of New Nederland.

Shorto's animated characterizations of individuals and events is consistently enlightening entertaining, informative and balanced, all of which make for a powerful analysis of events that have had an unbelievable influence on American culture, political and economic institutions.