Dutch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever since I was a little boy I have been fascinated by the places I lived
or visited.I've always been interested in what a place is like before modern civilization comes in and creates what we see every day. I dream of the Mississippi River 200 years ago, the Donner Pass in the winter1846 and Manhattan as farm land. “Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto gives us a wonderful rural glimpse at this most urban of islands, Manhattan, in the time of the Dutch. I now live in New York and dream about the Tappan Zee after reading this book.

Every school kid knows that the Dutch originally settled Manhattan... but we are brought up on the idea of the thirteen original "English" colonies ... and it is easy to forget the powerful influence the Dutch had on the formation of the American colonies. By digging into the newly translated records of the Dutch colony, Mr. Shorto is able to open our eyes to more than just a few place names (Harleem becomes Harlem, the "Jonker" becomes Yonkers, etc.) and the bad memory of Peter Stuyvesant. He shows the lasting cultural influence that the Dutch inroads into the Hudson Valley had on the American nation….. And I say, “Thank God for the Dutch!”

It is impossible to relate all of the eye-opening information that Mr. Shorto reveals in this book. There is a lot here. I was particularly interested in the story of "the Jonker" Adriaen van der Donck, the young Dutch lawyer whose liberal interpretation of Dutch law helped bring many of the freedoms we now hold dear to the American psyche. Where are these kinds of people today? And I loved being able to image this island as a land of villages (both Indian & European) with farms and vast tracks of unspoilded land. Mr. Shorto is really able to bring this world to life.

In brief, if you have any interest at all in the history of early America, an America untainted by Bush colored patriotism, you would be foolish to miss this book. As Mr. Shorto makes pains to point out, this island was the center of a multicultural community from day one and stretched its melting pot ideals deep into the heart of America. It is a fascinating story.