I have not read Shorto’s first book on the Dutch settlement of NY, but this book was excellent! I am from the Hudson River Valley and am constantly in Kingston - so learning more about the history all the way from NYC to Albany is always a great addition. I know some of the basics from school and field trips, but Shorto did a great job keeping the book interesting, full of knowledge, and conversational.

Highly recommend this for all your US history geek friends, NY history geek friends, or really, anyone. I will be following up with his first book shortly!

Thank you Net Galley & WW Norton for an advanced audiobook.

This describes the showdown between 2 imperialist nations over the city that eventually became New York City. The Dutch swiped the land from the Native Americans and built a thriving, diverse bastion of commerce. And the British were jealous so they sent troops to take the city which they considered rightfully theirs. (They actually considered everything as far as the Pacific theirs by virtue of having set foot on the Atlantic coast, but that is the way imperialists think.)

The book was an interesting description of life in Manhattan at that time, the class structure and the way the businesses (including the slave trade) operated. There was a little too much speculation about what the characters were feeling for my taste. But I did enjoy reading about what they actually did and the negotiations over the city.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher. The audiobook was narrated by the author. His narration was so slow that I had to speed it up to 2.5 to make it listenable. But once I did that it was OK.