Holland on the Hudson: An Economic and Social History of Dutch New York
Historians of New Netherland (1609-64) have traditionally focused on the failures of the Dutch West India Company. Rink's study, however, presents a colony which, on the eve of English conquest was thriving. He contends that private Amsterdam merchants played a larger role in the colony's development than has hitherto been recognized; they successfully circumvented the company, which was an "enfeebled giant" from the start. In the process, Rink casts new light on trade and commerce, immigration, demography, patroonships, Anglo-Dutch rivalry, and slavery. This is a major new interpretation, frankly "imperial and Dutch" in perspective, buttressed by research in previously neglected sources. Highly recommended for academic libraries. Roy H. Tryon, Delaware State Archives, DoverCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.