BOOK REVIEWS [ 83 ] neither apologetic nor pedantic. The result is a greater appreciation of both the document and the discipline of historical editing. carol ruth berkin, Baruch College, City University of New York A SWEET AND ALIEN LAND: THE STORY OF DUTCH NEW YORK By Henri and Barbara van der Zee. (New York: The Viking Press, 1978. Pp. xx, 560; illus., notes, biblio., index. $19.95.) The authors of this volume on the Dutch in New York have written a previous work, a first-rate biography of William and Mary, successors to James II as rulers of England. The scholarship of that book, with its explanation of English and Dutch politics, is reflected here. This is an excellent account, carefully researched and masterfully written, of the abortive Dutch colony of New Netherland. Extending from the Connecticut River to the Delaware River and along the Hudson to the environs of what is now Albany, the Dutch West India Company claimed a substantial territory. The company, however, never desired a colony because a trading settlement seemed more profitable. The odd aspect of this project is why the Dutch government did not understand the importance of New Netherland and, particularly, the strategic value of New Amsterdam. The Hague, apparently, did not appreciate the importance of New Netherland until its capture by the English in 1664. By then it was too late. From 1625 to 1664 the tribulations of New Netherland, with Dutch feuding with Dutch, when they were not fighting the Swedes, the Indians, and the English, constitute a depressing tale. It is difficult to think of Peter Stuyvesant, for example, as an appealing figure, but it is equally difficult not to sympathize with his problems and note the scant help he received from the mother country. This lively and frequently amusing chronicle of the Dutch experiment, with all its vicissitudes and eventual defeat, may not be precisely new, but it is recommended unreservedly for anyone interested in the history of New Amsterdam-New York. james j. heslin, The New-York Historical Society INVENTING AMERICA: JEFFERSON'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE By Garry Wills. (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1978. Pp. 398; prologue, appendixes, index to proper names. $10.00.) "The Jefferson cult offers endless cases of vagueness in the service of anachronism!' Wills wittily observes near the end of this cleverly written but not very convincing attempt to sabotage the work of orthodox historians