As for the actual history of the New Netherlands colony, it is compelling and very interesting part of American history. The down side is that much of the source material has not been translated as the author admits. We will probably get a better, more complete history in the next 10 to 20 years after all the material has finally been translated. Still, Shorto does an pretty good job with what he was working with and it is worth a listen. The worst part of the book was the author's ridiculous attempt to somehow draw a line from the Dutch colony's openness and the progressive world of modern day NYC. He tries hard to make it some colonial blue state/red state battles with the backwards Massachusetts colonies. It doesn't hold water because he almost never mentions the Virginia colonies which were company towns like New Netherlands towns and were just as open and tolerant of outsiders as the Dutch were, but somehow Virginia and North Carolina didn't morph into modern day progressive capitols. While also ignoring Virginia, he also doesn't mention Rhode Island or Pennsylvania (except for one throw away line at the end), as both colonies had a similar tolerant attitude to different religions. Thankfully, his misguided attempt to connect 17th century ethos to 21st century multiculturalism does not ruin a pretty good book.
