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Knickerbocker: The Myth behind New York by Elizabeth L. Bradley (Hardcover, 2009)

Deep within New York's compelling, sprawling history lives an odd, ornery Manhattan native named Diedrich Knickerbocker. The name may be familiar today: his story gave rise to generations of popular tributes - from a beer brand to a basketball team and more - but Knickerbocker himself has been forgotten. In fact, he was New York's first truly homegrown chronicler, and as a descendant of the Dutch settlers, he singlehandedly tried to reclaim the city for the Dutch. Almost singlehandedly, that is. Diedrich Knickerbocker was created in 1809 by a young Washington Irving, who used the character to narrate his classic satire, A History of New York. According to Irving's partisan narrator, everything good and distinctive, proud and powerful, about New York City - from the doughnuts to the twisting streets of lower Manhattan - could be traced back to New Amsterdam. This book features a terrific general interest, cultural history of a city with a rich and lively literary past. This is the first-ever book on the eponymous myth that has informed New York City culture since the early 1800s. It also coincides with the two-hundredth anniversary of Washington Irving's publication of A History of New York. It is a perfect gift book or addition to library collection of New York City - themed books. It includes a gallery of images that brings Diedrich Knickerbocker, his myth, time, and place to life.

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