Bestselling Author To Discuss Book At New Canaan Library

Information via New Canaan Library

NEW CANAAN, CT — New Canaan Library is pleased to welcome Russell Shorto, best-selling author of "The Island at the Center of the World," and his new book "Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America" during an upcoming event.

Known for writing page-turning landmarks of historical scholarship, Shorto does it again by continuing where the runaway success of "Island at the Center of the World" left off, according to a news release provided by the library.

"Island" tells the story of two men—Peter Stuyvesant and lesser-known but more influential Adriaen van der Donck—and their different notions of Manhattan's future. Bristling with vibrant characters, "Taking Manhattan" reveals the founding of New York to be an invention, the result of creative negotiations that would blend the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire, to create a foundation from which America would rise, according to the library.

Ahead of New York City's 400th anniversary this spring and the nation's 250th in 2026, Shorto addresses the nuance and complexity of celebrating the past while recognizing its failures, according to the library.

"The answer to this conundrum is really quite simple," he writes, according to the news release. "You do it all. You do your best." (NYT, 4/23/24).

Shorto's best is indeed thrilling and multifaceted, as "Taking Manhattan" draws from newly translated materials and illuminates neglected histories — of religious refugees, Indigenous tribes and free and enslaved Africans, according to the library.

A masterful storyteller and researcher of astonishing exactitude, Shorto is at the height of his powers in "Taking Manhattan," a stunning picture of American beginnings, according to the library.

The program will be held on March 9 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Jim and Dede Bartlett Auditorium at the New Canaan Library. Registration is available on the library's website.

Shorto's work has been described as "astonishing" (The New York Times) and "literary alchemy" (Chicago Tribune). Elm Street Books will be on site with books for purchase and signing by the author, according to the library.