When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, the truth about its thriving, polyglot society began to disappear into myths about an island purchased for 24 dollars and a cartoonish peg-legged governor. But the story of the Dutch colony of New Netherland was merely lost, not destroyed: 12,000 pages of its records–recently declared a national treasure–are now being translated. Drawing on this remarkable archive, Russell Shorto has created a gripping narrative–a story of global sweep centered on a wilderness called Manhattan–that transforms our understanding of early America.
The Dutch colony pre-dated the “original” thirteen colonies, yet it seems strikingly familiar. Its capital was cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, and its citizens valued free trade, individual rights, and religious freedom. Their champion was a progressive, young lawyer named Adriaen van der Donck, who emerges in these pages as a forgotten American patriot and whose political vision brought him into conflict with Peter Stuyvesant, the autocratic director of the Dutch colony. The struggle between these two strong-willed men laid the foundation for New York City and helped shape American culture. The Island at the Center of the World uncovers a lost world and offers a surprising new perspective on our own.

This book explores the nineteenth century roots of globalisation through the activities of the enterprise network created by the Scottish merchant, William Mackinnon. It follows the rise of the family-led business group from its modest origins in Scotland to its transformation into the world's largest maritime and mercantile conglomerate, tracing the history of the various shipping firms within the group - including the British India, Netherlands India and Australasian United companies - and identifies the key factors behind its domination of coastal steamshipping around the Indian Ocean and into the western Pacific. It provides an analysis of the anatomy and dynamics of the enterprise network over time. The book also examines Mackinnon's relationship with the imperial statesman, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, which drew the network into the operations of British 'informal imperialism' in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and East-Central Africa regions, and eventually to its sponsorship of the ill-fated Imperial British East Africa Company. It breaks new ground in identifying the interplay of personal and business considerations behind Mackinnon's participation in the 'Scramble for Africa' in its combination of maritime history with business history and imperial history to contribute to the current debate over 'gentlemanly capitalism' and British overseas expansion. WINNER OF THE 2004 WADSWORTH PRIZE. JOINT WINNER OF THE 2004 SALTIRE SOCIETY RESEARCH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD. J. FORBES MUNRO is emeritus professor of international economic history, University of Glasgow

This is the book that made Simon Schama's reputation when first published in 1987. A historical masterpiece, it is an epic account of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age of Rembrandt and van Diemen. In this brilliant work that moves far beyond the conventions of social or cultural history, Simon Schama investigates the astonishing case of a people's self-invention. He shows how, in the 17th-century, a modest assortment of farming, fishing and shipping communities, without a shared language, religion or government, transformed themselves into a formidable world empire -- the Dutch republic.

For courses in Imperialism/Colonialism as well as the second half of the World History survey course, this textbook addresses modern imperialism and colonialism from a truly global and holistic perspective. From the formation of centralized gunpowder empires in Eurasia and parts of Africa to the demise of the bi-polar Cold War world, Modern Imperialism and Colonialism investigates our evolving understanding of the origins, nature, mechanisms, and demise of modern empires. It evaluates empires as structures and also explores the doctrines, ideologies, and practices of imperialism and colonial rule.

This book describes the rise--and fall--of an elite group which flourished within English society from the 1880s until the First World War: The Souls. Its members included intellectuals and politicians. What made the Souls unique, however, was that some of their most influential members were women. "The Unquiet Souls" is no bland eulogy of a 'Golden Age' but a portrayal of England during four decades of dazzling and often cruel contradictions. Angela Lambert examines the rigid hierarchy of servants and class, the manipulation that kept power in the hands of the landed aristocracy and the very rich, and the unwritten rules and private language that defined membership of this charmed, doomed circle, the like of which could never form again.

Jonathan Israel's 1,231-page blockbuster forms the inaugural volume of a new series, the Oxford History of Early Modern Europe, and offers a comprehensive, integrated account of the northern part of the Netherlands over almost 350 years… The Dutch Republic represents the fruit of 12 years of research, contemplation and writing, and brims over with interesting detail.
— The New York Times Book Review

Israel performs the great service of charting a path through this literature and presents a coherent and comprehensive picture of the Dutch Republic… Comprehensive in scope and yet so clearly and carefully written that it could serve as a textbook for graduate history courses. Because it is so thoroughly researched and up-to-date, it is also the kind of indispensable handbook that deserves a place on every early modernist's bookshelf.
— American Historical Review

Law Wing Sang teaches cultural studies at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He has a personal anthology of essays (in Chinese) Re-theorizing Colonial Power published by Oxford University Press. His research and teaching areas include historical cultural studies of colonialism; comparative social thought; Hong Kong cultural formation; citizenship and cultural theory.

"Pendergrast has served up a rich blend of anecdote, character study, market analysis, and social history...everything you ought to know about coffee is here."
-New York Times The first comprehensive business and social history of coffee, which describes how coffee has dominated and molded the economies, politics, and social structures of entire countries. Pendergrast's scrupulously researched and lively anecdotal history provides a window through which to view broader themes of modern-day media and marketing, the rise of mass production, colonialism, women's issues, and international commodity schemes.