Taking Manhattan

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 arch-rivals, 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 origins—boundless opportunity coupled with subjugation and displacement—reflect America’s promise and failure to this day. Russell Shorto, whose work has been described as “astonishing” (The 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.

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 arch-rivals, 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 origins—boundless opportunity coupled with subjugation and displacement—reflect America’s promise and failure to this day. Russell Shorto, whose work has been described as “astonishing” (The 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.