Taking Manhattan

Reviews

"How did New Amsterdam really become New York? Who made up the cast of characters behind this unusual and consequential takeover? And how did slavery play a part in the rise of a world class financial center that many people today imagine as having been northern and free? Taking Manhattan is a riveting, thoroughly researched account of the men and women of Indigenous, Dutch, African, Jewish, and English descent who populated this thriving seventeenth-century port that was the glory of the Netherlands and envy of England. Filled with new knowledge, eloquent prose, and international intrigue, Russell Shorto’s history of Manhattan’s shift from Indigenous hands, to Dutch oversight, to English authority, and ultimately to a state of cultural hybridity, will take your breath away." — Tiya Miles, National Book Award winner and author of Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People

"The flavor of New Amsterdam — pluralistic, capitalistic, pulsing with energy — has survived. The history of how a Dutch town of 1500 people and some 28 languages became the city of New York evaporated along the way. Russell Shorto has heroically recovered it, offering up the 17th century transfer of power as it actually occurred and in vivid detail. Here, amid red-tiled roofs, are secret negotiations; last-ditch female intermediaries; and, for good measure, a Connecticut alchemist. Best of all, Shorto himself feels everywhere present in these spirited, revelatory pages. " — Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Revolutionary