Russell Shorto Books In Order

Publication Order of Children's Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Russell Shorto Religion Books

Publication Order of History of the Civil War Books

Russell Shorto is a published author.

He is known for writing many books, over forty in total. He has written books such as Revolution Song, which served as a new narrative of the American Revolution. The New York Times called it a remarkable achievement. The Chicago Tribune described it as an ‘engaging piece of historical detective work and narrative craft’.

He is also known for writing The Island at the Center of the World, which proved to be a national and international bookseller that was written about the Dutch founding of New York. He has written eight books of narrative historical books. One of his newer books to come out is the 2025 book Taking Manhattan.

Shorto has proven to be a senior scholar at the New Netherland Institute. He was also formerly a director of the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam. He is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at the New York Historical Society.

Shorto was awarded a knighthood in 2009 from the Dutch government in recognition of the work that he has done in increasing the historical understanding between the Netherlands and the United States.

The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America is a book by Russell Shorto.

When the British were able to wrest New Amsterdam from the Dutch all the way back in 1664, the truth about its thriving polyglot society started to disappear into myths about an island that was purchased for twenty-four dollars and a peg-legged governor who was totally cartoonish.

Thankfully, the story of the Dutch colony of New Netherland was just lost and not destroyed. Twelve thousand of its records, which were recently declared a national treasure, are now being translated.

Drawing on this archive, Shorto has created a completely engaging narrative– a story of a global sweep that is centered on a wilderness that is referred to as Manhattan– that is able to transform the understanding that we have of an early America.

This Dutch colony already pre-dated the original thirteen colonies. Despite this fact, it seems strikingly familiar. The capital of the colony was cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, and the citizens there valued things such as free trade, religious freedom, and individual rights.

The champion was a progressive young lawyer named Adriaen van der Donck. He emerges in these pages as a forgotten American patriot. His political vision brought him into conflict with Peter Stuyvesant, who was an autocratic director of the Dutch colony.

The struggle going on between these two men with equally strong wills went on to lay the foundation for New York City and helped to shape American culture. Through the eloquent words of Russell Shorto, pick up this copy of a book and page by page see a lost world uncovered that can give interesting perspective on your own!

Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City is a novel by Russell Shorto. Whether you’re familiar with Amsterdam or not, this is a book that is a must-read if you are a fan of non-fiction.

This book is a very entertaining portrait of the city of Amsterdam as well as the ideas that make it unique, written by the same author who brought his audiences the novel Island at the Center of the World.

People who have been to Amsterdam or imagine it in their minds may have the image of this city as picturesque, containing low-slung brick houses that line the way of canals that are clean and tidy. Student travelers may be aware of it for its legal brothels as well as the hash bars that line the streets, while lovers of art may have the impressive paintings of Rembrandt spring to mind.

However, it is the deeper history of Amsterdam that makes it one of the most interesting places on Earth. Part of that is bound up in its unique geography. This includes the constant battle of its citizens to keep the sea at bay and the democratic philosophy that this enduring struggle was able to foster.

In many ways Amsterdam is the font of liberalism. They have had a tolerance for free thinking and free love both of which have contributed to making it a place where in the words of one of the mayors there that craziness is a value.

However, the city also was able to foster the deeper meaning of liberalism, one that was able to profoundly influence political and economic freedom. The city of Amsterdam in the past has been home not only to religious dissidents and radical thinkers but also to the first great global corporation in the world.

In this easy and erudite account, the author is able to effortlessly trace the idiosyncratic evolution of Amsterdam. He is able to show how such disparate elements such as herring anatomy, an intimate gathering in a sixteenth century wine tasting room, and naked Anabaptists who are parading through the streets had not only a deep effect on the Dutch but also on world history.

Bringing in his own experiences of this adopted home, the author is able to give the reader the story of Amsterdam that is continually surprising as well as intellectually engaging. From the constructing of its first canals in the 1300s to its horrible struggle for independence to its golden age as a vast empire to the complex present in which its beloved ideals of liberalism are under siege, this is yet another must-read novel from Russell Shorto.