Taking Manhattan

Join us for an illustrated talk with renowned historian and author of The Island at the Center of the World, Russell Shorto, who will introduce us to “Taking Manhattan” his new riveting narrative that chronicles the birth of New York City in 1664 after England decided to invade the Dutch-controlled city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island.

Bristling with vibrant characters, Taking Manhattan reveals the founding of New York to be an invention, the result of creative negotiations between Richard Nicholls, the military officer who led the threatening English flotilla, and Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland’s canny director general. The New York that emerged from their peaceful talks blended the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire.

WHEN: Sunday, September 28, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom
Reception and book signing to follow

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.