Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652-1664

Rating:
Summary: Albany's Dutch Ancestry Comprehensively Explored
Review: Finally, a look at the other 17th century Dutch city on the Hudson. With the recent glut of books on the history of New York City (which, personally, I can't get enough of), it is refreshing to take a break and read about the history of the state's capitol, Albany--Beverwijck, as it was known way back when. In Janny Venema's "Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652-1664", Albany's Dutch years are finally given their just due. Venema's extensive research is evident in just about every paragraph, and is conveyed in a way that most historians strive: fluidly, logically, and at a modest pace. This 500+ page book reads remarkably quickly, much to the author's credit.

Many of the issues and personalities that shaped the development of New Amsterdam are echoed here: skirmishes with the natives; desperate moments when it seemed the place would implode; the ubiquitous Peter Stuyvesant; struggles with vice, etc. But what I found surprising is Venema's theme that Beverwijck was just as tolerant of races, just as much a springboard of modern America's ethics as was New Amesterdam. The Brooklyn guy inside me bristled at first, but the evidence is overwhelming.

I hope others will pick up this study, as it provides an indispensible look at a time and place that has been unnecessarily overlooked.

Rating:
Summary: Concise, but too much
Review: This book is the definite book on the colony of Beverwijck, which would later become Albany in New York State. Veneme pays great detail to pretty much all the aspects of life in this frontier town. The dress, indian relations, healthcare, poor care, trade, important people. It gives a very good insight into how life was lived in the 17th century in both Holland and New Netherlands.

the detail and conciseness is also what is the matter with this book. It's good to use as reference and to look for things mentioned before, but because of the many details it is not always easy to get an overall view. The research done was great (it's a dissertation) but makes it at times unreadable. There are for example over 120 pages of notes in the back of the book.

It's a very good example of total-history, very interesting to get a good view of life in that age, but not something you would pleasantly read.