Hello All, > My cousin told me that this book was so interesting that she couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end! Well, that certainly piqued my interest. I just checked it out on the Borders.com site and thought I would pass the information along. > I am not related to, or know the author. I have not (nor will) receive any compensation from the author, the publisher, or Borders Book Store. Since I haven't read the book yet myself, I cannot critique the book or guarantee that you will enjoy it. :) Happy Summer, Kathleen~CT. FROM BORDERS (online) - "The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America" Author - _Russell Shorto_ (http://www.borders.com/online/store/SearchResults?type=1&contrib=Russell+Shorto) Hardcover, 400 pages (or Paperback, April 2005) Doubleday Religious Publishing Grou, The April 01, 2004 Description: 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 NY 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. Review - "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 **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112)

Excellent read!! You are right, I couldn't put it down May those that love us, love us; and those that don't love us, may God turn their hearts, and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limp. Irish Prayer "Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat."- Alex Levine. Kevin Patrick Flood Jacksonville FL - formerly of Brooklyn, NY 904-380-6758 FAX 800-728-9619 -----Original Message----- From: nybrooklyn-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:nybrooklyn-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of KTRACY1999@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 12:04 PM To: nybrooklyn@rootsweb.com; nyc-roots@rootsweb.com Subject: [BKLYN] FYI - A GREAT READ FOR THE SUMMER Hello All, > My cousin told me that this book was so interesting that she couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end! Well, that certainly piqued my interest. I just checked it out on the Borders.com site and thought I would pass the information along. > I am not related to, or know the author. I have not (nor will) receive any compensation from the author, the publisher, or Borders Book Store. Since I haven't read the book yet myself, I cannot critique the book or guarantee that you will enjoy it. :) Happy Summer, Kathleen~CT. FROM BORDERS (online) - "The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America" Author - _Russell Shorto_ (http://www.borders.com/online/store/SearchResults?type=1&contrib=Russell+Sh orto) Hardcover, 400 pages (or Paperback, April 2005) Doubleday Religious Publishing Grou, The April 01, 2004 Description: 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 NY 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. Review - "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 **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112) ___________________________________ The Bklyn Info Pages Website: www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/ List Administrator: NancyL916@aol.com Post to List: nybrooklyn@rootsweb.com ___________________________________ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYBROOKLYN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message