THE ISLAND AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD by Russell Shorto

(HISTORY)

Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World:  The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America (New York: Doubleday, 2004; Vintage Books, 2005).

Audio Version: Recorded Books; Unabridged edition (July 30, 2004).

Reviewed by Wilda Morris

Native Americans did not sell Manhattan to the Dutch for $24. That is just one of the myths that spread after the British took control of New Amsterdam in 1664. The rich history of the Dutch colony is being reclaimed as 12,000 pages of surviving records are at last being translated by Charles Gehring.

The way Shorto tells the story of the founding and early years of Manhattan makes it almost as engrossing as a novel. At the center of the tale is Adriaen van der Donck, the young lawyer who lead the opposition to the autocratic practices of Willum Kieft and his successor as director-general, Peter Stuyvesant. I confess that my original interest in this story stemmed from the role that Cornelius Melyn, my eighth great-grandfather, played in these events. I was glad to find him mentioned a number of times, but I would have found the book fascinating even if I had had no genealogical relationship to Manhattan.

New Amsterdam, in contrast to most of the British colonies, was a polyglot, multi-ethnic society many of whose people valued religious liberty, free trade and individual rights. We can still learn from much of their history. I highly recommend this book in both print and recorded versions.