13 h 34 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a city's history begins with the creation of the world—and a historian far too pleased with himself?
In Washington Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York, Complete, Diedrich Knickerbocker claims the historian's chair. This invented Dutch scholar gathers old records and family stories, then fills his account with opinions and grand detours. He loves his Dutch forefathers, but that does not spare them from the jokes.
The tale follows the Dutch colony that becomes New York City, from its founding legends to the quarrels of its governors. Wouter Van Twiller hesitates, William Kieft issues proclamations, and Peter Stuyvesant brings a fierce temper and iron will. Behind their comic failures lies a sharper question: how do nations turn their follies into proud histories?
What you’ll discover
- A wonderfully vain guide Follow Knickerbocker through mock scholarship, fond memories, and opinions he cannot keep to himself.
- A beginning before the beginning Watch a history of New York take a grand detour through the creation of the world.
- Legends around a city Meet settlers whose ship bears Saint Nicholas, a central figure in the city's founding legend.
- Three ways to govern badly Discover governors whose doubt, anger, and stubbornness turn the business of ruling into comedy.
- History with its pride exposed Look beyond the Dutch jokes to a satire aimed at politicians, speculators, and speechmakers.
Who will love it
For readers who love dry humor, mock-scholarship and early American history told with a straight face. It also suits anyone curious about the origins of the name Knickerbocker.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A made-up historian tells the tale
- Start with the creation of the world
- Hudson sails and the Dutch arrive
- A saint and a dream found a city
- Wouter Van Twiller governs by doing nothing
- William the Testy rules by proclamation
- Peter the Headstrong fights everyone
- What the satire is really aimed at
- A mock epic that shaped New York
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- Audiobook
- 13 h 34 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Histoire de New York de Knickerbocker
by Washington Irving · 1809
Diedrich Knickerbocker turns Dutch governors, quarrels and wars into a comic look at how nations tell their own stories.
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In short
Knickerbocker's History of New York is a comic history of the Dutch colony that became New York City. Washington Irving published it in 1809, when he was a young writer in his twenties.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A made-up historian tells the tale
Irving begins with a trick. The book comes with a preface by Diedrich Knickerbocker, a small, proud, old-fashioned man who says he has spent years gathering the truth about the Dutch settlers of New York. He claims to have read old manuscripts, listened to the stories of aged families, and looked into forgotten corners of the colony's past. He speaks of himself as a serious historian, which is the first joke.
The real story of the book's start is almost as funny. Before it came out, notices appeared in New York newspapers saying that an elderly gentleman named Knickerbocker had gone missing from his lodgings. The notice said he had left behind a manuscript, and that the landlord would publish it to cover his unpaid bill. Readers took the notices seriously for a time. Then the book arrived and the hoax became a book launch.
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What is Knickerbocker's History of New York about?
It is a comic account of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, later New York, from the world's creation through the reigns of its Dutch governors. A fictional historian tells it, and the book mocks both Dutch settlers and pompous historians.
Who was Diedrich Knickerbocker?
He is an invented character, an elderly Dutch scholar who supposedly wrote the book. Washington Irving created him, and even placed newspaper notices about his disappearance before publication. His name later came to mean old New York families.
Is Knickerbocker's History of New York a true story?
No. It is a satire published in 1809 that mixes real events, such as Hudson's voyage and the Dutch governors, with wild invention. Historians treat it as literature and humor, not as a reliable record of the colony.
The author
Washington Irving
1783–1859 · American writer and historian
Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American writer, historian and diplomat. He was born in New York City and died in Tarrytown, New York. He also lived in Britain and Spain. He published The Sketch Book in 1819–1820 and The Alhambra in 1832. He served as American minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
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