Russell Shorto

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...

"In his epic new book, Russell Shorto takes us back to the founding of the American nation, drawing on diaries, letters and autobiographies to flesh out six lives that cast the era in a fresh new light. They include an African man who freed himself and his family from slavery, a rebellious young woman who abandoned her abusive husband to chart her own course, and a certain Mr. Washington, who was admired for his social graces but harshly criticized...

Russell Shorto meticulously investigates Christian history and the Bible’s New Testament to reveal the true, historical Jesus Christ.
For roughly two thousand years, the world has known only the biblical depiction of Jesus: the virgin birth, miraculous life, and resurrection. Recently, scholars have pursued the historical Jesus Christ by poring through texts, examining ancient documents, and even holding votes. They make a fresh...

Nearly 40 years ago, a New York State Library archivist discovered 12,000 pages of extraordinary records from the original Dutch colony on Manhattan. After decades of painstaking translation, the documents became the primary source for this breathtaking history of early New York. With an extraordinary cast of real-life characters, The Island at the Center of the World is a riveting narrative and a landmark in the chronicles of American history.

A biography of Abraham Lincoln, focusing on his role as president in ending slavery in the United States.

The Last Supper, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection: one by one the great beams of Christianity are being tested. Biblical scholars - once the guardians of Christian theology - are now using the tools of archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, computer science, and even particle physics to probe the question "Who was Jesus?" The result is a radical revision of the gospel story that is both surprisingly vivid and, to some people, deeply shocking. In...

A biography of the President who led the country through the stormy years of the Civil War.

Explains how space shuttles work and what astronauts do during the course of a shuttle mission.

A biography of the American naval officer for whom Congress created the rank of full admiral.

"Family secrets emerge as a best-selling author dives into the history of the mob in small-town America. Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a city "in its brawny postwar prime," is where "Little Joe" Regino and Russ Shorto build a local gambling empire on the earnings of factory workers for whom placing a bet--on a horse or pool game, pinball or "tip seal"--is their best shot at the American dream. Decades later, Russell Shorto grew up knowing that his grandfather...