When Molly, a ten-year-old orphan, is arrested for picking pockets in London in 1731, she is banished to America and serves as an indentured servant for a New York City family that expects her to follow their Jewish traditions.

In a riveting, groundbreaking narrative, Russell Shorto tells the story of New Netherland, the Dutch colony which pre-dated the Pilgrims and established ideals of tolerance and individual rights that shaped American history. 
"Astonishing . . . A book that will permanently alter the way we regard our collective past." —The New York Times
When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, the truth about its...