He was the only one. He was the only man to have committed suicide in the town's seventeenth-century history. So begins Donna Merwick's fascinating tale of a Dutch notary who ended his life in his adopted community of Albany. In a major feat of historical reconstruction; she introduces us to Adriaen Janse van Ilpendam and the long-forgotten world he inhabited in Holland's North American colony. Her powerful narrative will make readers care for this quiet and studious man; an "ordinary" settler for whom the clash of empires brought tragedy.Like so many of his fellow countrymen; Janse left his Dutch homeland as a young adult to try his luck in New Netherland. After spending a few years on Manhattan Island; he moved on to the fur trading settlement today known as Albany. Merwick traces his journey to a new continent and re-creates the satisfying existence this respected burgher enjoyed with his wife in the bustling town. As a notary Janse was; in the author's words; "surrounded by stories; those he listened to and recorded; the hundreds he archived in a chest or trunk." His familiar life was turned upside down by the British conquest of the colony. Merwick recounts the changes brought about by the new rulers and imagines the despair Janse must have felt when English; a language he had never learned; replaced his native tongue in official transactions. In any military adventure; truth is alleged to be the first casualty. Merwick offers a poignant reminder that the first casualties are in fact people. As much a musing on what history obscures as what it reveals; her book is a superior work by a master practitioner of her craft.
#362895 in Books Ingramcontent 2014-02-04Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.90 x .60 x 5.90l; .65 #File Name: 0801479525216 pagesBitter Choices Loyalty and Betrayal in the Russian Conquest of the North Caucasus
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Method does not quite workBy Benjamin TrovatoKhodarkovsky has spent most of his career studying the relation between the Russian Empire and the steppe nomads. Here he turns his attention to the Caucasus and adopts a method that does not quite work. He bases his account on an obscure man called Semyon Atarshchikov. He was a Russified Chechen who worked as an interpreter for the Russians. In 1841 he went over to the mountaineers; became a Muslim and spent several years raiding until he was murdered by another deserter. There is not much information about him and most of the book is about what he must have seen and done. If you are interested in the Caucasus there is a good bit of random information here but it does not make a unified account.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. INTRIGUING!By W. Dale FillippoI ENJOYED THIS BOOK IMMENSELY BECAUSE IT FOLLOWED ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS LIVING AND SURVIVING THRU DIFFERENT PERIODS IN THE CAUCASUS DURING SO MUCH TURMOIL EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY; YOU LEAVE THIS BOOK WITH A FAR BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WENT ON IN THAT AREA; ESPECIALLY NOW.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The difficult explainedBy Honey LadyGreat read and mind expanding with background not understood from others on the topic. Enjoyed every minute. I would like to have seen more maps or notations of the page of the maps provided. It would further expanded my understanding of that difficult geography.
