| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 92.1

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 92.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America. By Russell Shorto. (New York: Doubleday, 2004. xvi, 384 pp. $27.50, ISBN 0-385-50349-0.)

Russell Shorto's engaging story of the founding and development of the Dutch colonial society on the southern tip of Manhattan Island provides a fresh look at a community and colony often neglected by historians. Shorto argues that the community of New Amsterdam is important in its own right and that the society created there contributed significantly to the broader development of America, particularly in its "tolerance, openness, and free trade" (p. 6). Despite several weaknesses in the volume, which should keep professional scholars from relying too heavily upon it, The Island at the Center of the World offers a lively account of New Amsterdam and brings greater (and justifiable) attention to the colony of New Netherland.

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