1640

by Harald Johnson

The gripping story of New York City's (and Manhattan's) birth concludes in 1640. Fourteen years have passed, and Dancing Fish and his Manahate band now face their most serious threat of all: new Dutch Director Willem Kieft and his warring ways. Murder, retribution, hope and sacrifice bring this four-book saga to its stunning conclusion.

If you like historical fiction in the style of Ken Follett, James Michener, or Edward Rutherfurd, then you'll enjoy Harald Johnson's series of short books ("novellas") — based on true events — about the birth of New York City and the island at its center: Manhattan.

136 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2017

About the author

Harald Johnson is an author of both fiction and nonfiction, a publisher, and a lifelong swimmer—who actually swam nonstop around New York’s Manhattan island. His debut novel (NEW YORK 1609, 2018) was the first-ever to explore the birth of New York City (and Manhattan) from its earliest beginnings. He followed that with the three books of the NEANDER time-travel trilogy (2019, 2020, 2021), and then the modern suspense thriller EL NORTE (2022). THE TWILIGHTS is his sixth novel (and twelfth book).

Harald lives with his wife deep in the woods of central Virginia.

Reviews

[Winifred Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this concluding book of the series about the Dutch settlement of Manhattan, the conflict between the Dutch and the natives has become very violent. This makes for a fast-paced novella with gruesome and tragic action. The author says many of the most horrific scenes are based on historical events, and I don’t doubt that the conflict escalated as the Dutch became more entrenched and the Indians were weakened by disease and their growing dependence on the Dutch. Johnson portrays the Dutch leadership as brutal alcoholics, which may be accurate too. In all a well-written, entertaining story about Manhattan in the early 1600s. I enjoyed seeing the island as mostly wooded with only one small fort and a few farms.