ISLAND AT CENTER OF WORLD

When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, the truth about its thriving, <u> </u>polyglot society began to disappear into myths about an island purchased for 24 dollars and a cartoonish peg-legged governor. But the story of the Dutch colony of New Netherland was merely lost, not destroyed: 12,000 pages of its records&#8211;recently declared a national treasure&#8211;are now being translated. Drawing on this remarkable archive, Russell Shorto has created a gripping narrative&#8211;a story of global sweep centered on a wilderness called Manhattan&#8211;that transforms our understanding of early America.<br><br>The Dutch colony pre-dated the &#8220;original&#8221; thirteen colonies, yet it seems strikingly familiar. Its capital was cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, and its citizens valued free trade, individual rights, and religious freedom. Their champion was a progressive, young lawyer named Adriaen van der Donck, who emerges in these pages as a forgotten American patriot and whose political vision brought him into conflict with Peter Stuyvesant, the autocratic director of the Dutch colony. The struggle between these two strong-willed men laid the foundation for New York City and helped shape American culture. <b>The Island at the Center of the World</b> uncovers a lost world and offers a surprising new perspective on our own.