Sign-In
Cart
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Hardcover
Colonial Period (1600-1775)British HistoryRegional: Middle Atlantic
Publisher Price: $29.99
ISBN13: 9780393881165
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: Mar 4 2025
Pages: 408
Weight: 1.39
Height: 1.31 Width: 6.11 Depth: 9.25
Language: English
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, the military officer who led the English flotilla bent on destruction, changed his strategy once he encountered Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland's canny director general.
Bristling with vibrant characters, Taking Manhattan reveals the founding of New York to be an invention, the result of creative negotiations that would blend the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with 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. The book draws from newly translated materials and illuminates neglected histories--of religious refugees, Indigenous tribes, and free and enslaved Africans.
Taking Manhattan tells the riveting story of the birth of New York City as a center of capitalism and pluralism, a foundation from which America would rise. It also shows how the paradox of New York's origins--boundless opportunity coupled with subjugation and displacement--reflects America's promise and failure to this day. Russell Shorto, whose work has been described as astonishing (New York Times) and literary alchemy (Chicago Tribune), has once again mined archival sources to offer a vibrant tale and a fresh and trenchant argument about American beginnings.
1 different editions
Also available
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
Also from
Shorto, Russell
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Audio Book
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Audio Book
Also in
Colonial Period (1600-1775)
Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History
Fisher, Linford D.
Hardcover
The Chosen and the Damned: Native Americans and the Making of Race in the United States
Silverman, David J.
Hardcover
The Treacherous World of the 16th Century & How the Pilgrims Escaped It: The Prequel to America's Freedom
Federer, William J.
Paperback
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates
Dolin, Eric Jay
Paperback
From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition.....
Maier, Pauline
Paperback
Empire and Frontier: Colonel Peter Schuyler and the Valiant Iroquois in King William's War: 1689-1701
Marquis, Samuel
Hardcover
America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War
Bennett, William J.
Paperback
Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America's Founding Father (Large Print Edition)
Stark, Peter
Paperback
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Heart of American Darkness: A Story of Murder and Revolution on the Early Frontier
Parkinson, Robert G.
Paperback
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me: Debunking the False Narratives Defining America's School Curricula
Reilly, Wilfred
Hardcover
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Hardcover
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Paperback
The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World
Harpham, John Samuel
Hardcover
General History of the Robberies & Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates
Captain Johnson, Charles
Paperback
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
Silverman, David J.
Paperback
Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier
Drury, Bob
Clavin, Tom
Paperback
American Colonies: The Settling of North America (the Penguin History of the United States, Volume 1)
Taylor, Alan
Paperback
Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
Anderson, Fred
Paperback
The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke
Lawler, Andrew
Paperback
The Constitution of the United States (U.S. Heritage): With the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and Other Founding Documents with an I
Washington, George
Fathers, Founding
Hardcover
The Secret Founding of America: The Real Story of Freemasons, Puritans, & the Battle for the New World
Hagger, Nicholas
Paperback
Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America's Revolutionary Era
Bunn, Mike
Hardcover
The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675
Bailyn, Bernard
Paperback
Scots and Scotch Irish: Frontier Life in North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky
Hoefling, Larry J.
Paperback
The World Hunt: An Environmental History of the Commodification of Animals
Richards, John F.
Paperback
King Philip's War: The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict
Schultz, Eric B.
Tougias, Michael J.
Paperback
The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials
Starkey, Marion L.
Paperback
Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775. Second Edition (Revised)
Dobson, David
Paperback
The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest
Roberts, David
Paperback
The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation
Stuart, Nancy Rubin
Paperback
The First Emancipator: Slavery, Religion, and the Quiet Revolution of Robert Carter
Levy, Andrew
Paperback
By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire
Lamotte, Mélanie
Hardcover
A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth
Mack, Jonathan
Paperback
A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials - Witchcraft Hysteria and Justice in 17th Century Massachusetts
Matthews, Scott
Paperback
America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation
Davis, Kenneth C.
Paperback
Scars on the Land: An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South
Silkenat, David
Hardcover
Vignettes of Colonial Virginia: Remarkable Stories from the Founding of America
Tarter, Brent
Paperback
Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution
Preston, David L.
Paperback
The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Hardcover
Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Illustrated): Updated with Index and 80 Rare, Historical Photos
Lewis, Thomas W.
Goodrich, Charles Augustus
Hardcover
God's Solution for America and the Nations of the World: This is a Spiritual Revolution!
Hertler, David Carl
Hallahan Hertler, Jean
Paperback
The History of South Carolina: Its European Discovery and Colonization, Battles with the Native Americans, the Revolutionary War of Independence, and
Simms, William Gilmore
Paperback
The Ancient House: Constructing Community in the Seventeenth-Century New York Borderlands
Kramer, Erin B.
Paperback
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Paperback
Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America
Eustace, Nicole
Paperback
Jane Colden's Botanic Manuscript: The Legacy of America's First Woman Botanist
Heckscher, Fenella Greig
Hardcover
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack and the Fight for Survival in Early America
Swanson, James L.
Paperback
Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty
Barry, John M.
Paperback
A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery Under the Command of Captain Lewis and Captain Clarke of the Army of the United States [m
Gass, Patrick 1771-1870
Paperback
American History Bite-Sized: The Making of the USA in Over 150 Moments
Rattle, Alison
Vale, Allison
Hardcover
King George's War and the Thirty Year Peace: The Third Contest for North America
Laramie, Michael G.
Hardcover
U.S. History 101: Historic Events, Key People, Important Locations, and More!
Sears, Kathleen
Hardcover
Fort Niagara: The Key to the Inland Oceans and the French Movement to Dominate North America
Scott, Patricia Kay
Utley, William Edward
Paperback
Creatures of Empire: How Domestic Animals Transformed Early America
Anderson, Virginia DeJohn
Paperback
Robert Love's Warnings: Searching for Strangers in Colonial Boston
Dayton, Cornelia H.
Salinger, Sharon V.
Paperback
An Infinity of Nations: How the Native New World Shaped Early North America
Witgen, Michael
Paperback
A Canoe Named Klmin: Sixth-, Seventh-, Eighth-, and Ninth-Generation Family Members of Captain William Clark Right a Wrong
Robinson, Sam
Pearlmutter, Eve
Holton, Carlota Hermann
Hardcover
Forest Diplomacy: Cultures in Conflict on the Pennsylvania Frontier, 1757
Proctor, Nicolas W.
Paperback
The Atlantic Republic of Letters: Knowledge and Colonialism in the Age of Franklin
Pirillo, Diego
Hardcover
Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England
Hardesty, Jared Ross
Paperback
The Colonial Tavern: A Glimpse of New England Town Life - a Social History of America's Bars in the 1600s and 1700s
Field, Edward
Paperback
War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier
Ross, John F.
Paperback
Revolution by Fire: New York's Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741, a Graphic Novel
Lester, David
Rediker, Marcus
Paperback
In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration
Teichert, John Dragon
Wells, Brad
Paperback
Rum Punch and Revolution: Taverngoing and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia
Thompson, Peter
Paperback
American History: Celebrating 250 Years of Hidden Stories, Forgotten Heroes, and the Nation They Built
Alive, History Brought
Hardcover
White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery and Vengeneance in Colonial America
Brumwell, Stephen
Paperback
The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation
Calloway, Colin G.
Paperback
Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty
Waldman, Steven
Paperback
A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England, Volume 1: Surnames A-C
Savage, James
Paperback
God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians Against the Puritans of New England
Warren, James A.
Paperback
Massacre on the Merrimack: Hannah Duston's Captivity and Revenge in Colonial America
Atkinson, Jay
Paperback
The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America
Weidensaul, Scott
Hardcover
George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation (Chump Change Edition)
Washington, George
Paperback