New York by Edward Rutherford

Epic, sweeping, panoramic are words that come to mind after reading this novel. Rutherford tells the story of New York City from the early Dutch settlers to the Revolutionary War to the Civil War and the waves of immigrants, right up to 9/11. The story begins with the van Dyck family in 1664 and the plot follows their descendents and other families that are connected through business and personal relationships . It is an engrossing book, very well written. The stories of these individuals really provide a clear picture of how each historical event affected the people living there. Rutherford did an excellent job of allowing the reader to clearly follow the story as it moved from generation to generation and I had a good sense of the history of each family.