Chase...have approximately 100 pages to finish The Island in the Center of the World. The book is very interesting. I had never realized that the Dutch contributed so much to American settlements.

I find the book to be difficult reading, probably because the author wrote above my educational level. Some of the words which used were unfamilar to me, but by reading slowly, I learned much information concerning the political climate between the Dutch and English settlements.

It is hard to comprehend Manhattan, N.Y. with a very small population of white settlers. It was very interesting to learn how little the Indians valued the ownership of their land. Their idea was basically "use it or we will resell the land".

Thanks for the recommendation.