Russell Shorto

Who is Russell Shorto?

Russell Shorto is an American author, historian and journalist, best known for his book on the Dutch origins of New York City, The Island at the Center of the World. Shorto's research for this book relied greatly on the work of the New Netherland Project and the New Netherland Institute. Shorto is the New Netherland Research Center's 2013 Senior Scholar.

His most recent work, published in October 2013, is Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City, which tells the story of the city from its origins, through its Golden Age, to the present day in which Shorto is a proud resident of his adopted home.

Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1959, Shorto is a 1981 graduate of George Washington University. He is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and was director of the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam, where he has lived since November 2007.

On September 8, 2009 Shorto received a Dutch knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau for strengthening the relationship between the Netherlands and the United States through his publications and as Director of the John Adams Institute.