Book Guide

Thirty-eight years after Henry Hudson, in 1609, first sailed the Half Moon up the majestic river named for him, Governor Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam harbor. Much had happened in those years. Now the Dutch colonists welcomed their new Governor, all the more because they hated the departing one.

Peter Stuyvesant had a wooden leg. Sometimes he stormed and stomped it on the floor. Sometimes he made mistakes. But he was a man of warmth and charm and honesty, and he loved this new land. For eighteen years he helped the Dutch colony grow. 

Anna and Russel Crouse, New Yorkers themselves, give the reader a dramatic picture of the peg-legged Governor. And they tell of life in the little settlement huddled round the Fort at the tip of Manhattan Island, from sun-up to when the kloppermann called out the hours of the night.

Then in 1664 the English came with a fleet. There were tears in Peter Stuyvesant's eyes. He had to surrender. New Amsterdam was renamed New York.

His last years Stuyvesant lived on the farm he loved—bouwerie, as the Dutch called it. And there he lies buried, in the small chapel in New York City where St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie now stands. He will always be remembered for the big part he played in the history of the New World's first city—at a time when there were only farms where towering skyscrapers now rise.

From the dust jacket

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Anna Erskine Crouse

Anna Erskine Crouse

1916 - 2013
American
Anna Erskine Crouse is the daughter of the late John Erskine, distinguished author and educator. In the theatre she was production assistant to Josh... See more
Russel Crouse

Russel Crouse

1893 - 1966
American
Russel Crouse began as a newspaper man, then became a playwright. In collaboration with Howard Lindsay he has written many successful plays, includi... See more
Jo Spier

Jo Spier

1900 - 1978
Dutch
Jo Spier was born in Zutphen, Holland, and educated at the Royal Academy in Amsterdam and the Academie Cormon in Paris. Then he worked for the Amste... See more

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Content Guide

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Resource Guide

Plumfield Moms Podcast
Podcast

Landmark Books: What They Are and Why They Matter
Released in 2022 by Plumfield Moms Podcast
Available formats: Streaming Audio
Length: 52 min.
View on the Plumfield Moms Podcast site

Two-part episode hosted by Podcast Moms with guests Sandy Hall (Hall's Living Library), Jill Morgan (Purple House Press), and Tanya Arnold (Biblioguides) where they discuss the Landmark series, how they came to be and why they are worth adding to a home library.


Reviews

Semicolon

Peter Stuyvesant of Old New York
Reviewed by Sherry Early
Peter Stuyvesant is the biography of a man, the Dutch governor of New Amsterdam, as well as the history of the founding and growth of a city, New York City. I learned about Mr. Stuyvesant’s famous wooden leg, the result of his having his leg blown off by a cannonball on St. Martin’s Island in the Caribbean.

Read the full review on Semicolon