The thrilling narrative of how New York came to be, by the author of the beloved classic The Island at the Center
of the World.
In 1664, England decided to invade the Dutch-controlled city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. Charles
II and his brother, the Duke of York, had dreams of empire, and their archrivals, the Dutch, were in the way. But
Richard Nicolls, who led the English flotilla bent on destruction, changed his strategy once he began parleying
with Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch leader on Manhattan.
Bristling with vibrant characters, Taking Manhattan reveals the founding of New York to be an invention: the
result not of an English military takeover but of clever negotiations that led to a fusion of the multiethnic
capitalistic society the Dutch had pioneered to the power of the rising English empire. But the birth of what might
be termed the first modern city is also a story of the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and of the roots
of American slavery. Taking Manhattan shows how the paradox of New York’s originsboundless opportunity
coupled with subjugation and displacementreflect America’s promise and failure to this day. Russell Shorto,
whose work has been described as “astonishing” (New York Times) and “revelatory” (New York magazine), has
once again mined newly translated sources to offer a vibrant tale and a fresh and trenchant argument about
American beginnings.
