The Island At The Center Of The World Chapter 1 Summary
The book The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto was very interesting and gave me a different view on history. I felt the story that was told was very intriguing but it did get confusing at times. There were parts in the book where he would discuss an important person like Adriaen Van der Donck for example in one chapter then he would jump to a new person in the next chapter and then Van der Donck would be mentioned again two chapters later. This was hard to follow because he would jump from person to person and mention many dates that it was hard to keep up with what he was saying. However, regarding his argument that Manhattan is what started America he does an excellent job at proving this. One example of this is “…in
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their rough country attire, the young men and women, shifting and twitching with nerves and exuberant raw youth, who were about to start a new society in a wilderness called Manhattan.” (40) The overall quality of the book is really good; the author keeps the reader’s attention by including historical pictures that relate to his argument. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend who is trying to better understand America and what helped form our country. In History 1310, we learned about English America where we learned that Jamestown is what started America.
Russell Shorto disagrees with this argument and states that it was in fact Manhattan that shaped America. The story does mention Jamestown and why it was named what it is and all the historical facts behind it but it wasn’t the first colony in America. The author uses the knowledge he has about the topic and argues on why we forget to give Manhattan the credit it deserves. In class, we discuss the puritans and their role in the shaping which Shorto also mentions them in his explaining of Americas shaping. What we learned in class is very similar to the information Shorto provided except for the fact that Russell believes Manhattan shaped America not Jamestown. It was helpful to have my notes from class and that I was able to compare what we were taught to what I was reading. The book doesn’t bash on any of the things we were taught which I liked because I was able to see two different views on how America was shaped. The Island at the Center of the World was a really great book that provided new information that I didn’t know before. The author does an outstanding job at proving that Manhattan was the colony to shape America. I would recommend this book to someone because I feel it is a great book to read if you want to learn more about our country. Russell Shorto did a great job at showing why it was Manhattan Island that formed America and the many people who went into
this.
their rough country attire, the young men and women, shifting and twitching with nerves and exuberant raw youth, who were about to start a new society in a wilderness called Manhattan.” (40) The overall quality of the book is really good; the author keeps the reader’s attention by including historical pictures that relate to his argument. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend who is trying to better understand America and what helped form our country. In History 1310, we learned about English America where we learned that Jamestown is what started America.
Russell Shorto disagrees with this argument and states that it was in fact Manhattan that shaped America. The story does mention Jamestown and why it was named what it is and all the historical facts behind it but it wasn’t the first colony in America. The author uses the knowledge he has about the topic and argues on why we forget to give Manhattan the credit it deserves. In class, we discuss the puritans and their role in the shaping which Shorto also mentions them in his explaining of Americas shaping. What we learned in class is very similar to the information Shorto provided except for the fact that Russell believes Manhattan shaped America not Jamestown. It was helpful to have my notes from class and that I was able to compare what we were taught to what I was reading. The book doesn’t bash on any of the things we were taught which I liked because I was able to see two different views on how America was shaped. The Island at the Center of the World was a really great book that provided new information that I didn’t know before. The author does an outstanding job at proving that Manhattan was the colony to shape America. I would recommend this book to someone because I feel it is a great book to read if you want to learn more about our country. Russell Shorto did a great job at showing why it was Manhattan Island that formed America and the many people who went into
this.