For the bicentennial of its original publication���he first full-length book from the father of the American short story
In 1809, New Yorkers were buzzing about a series of classified ads concerning the whereabouts of Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker. They were unaware that Washington Irving had invented
the man entirely and placed the ads himself. Knickerbocker�'s purported manuscript, A History of New York, was Irving�'s own. Told from Knickerbocker�'s point of view, A History of
New York is a chronicle of New York�'s fifty years under Dutch rule in the 1600s that plays fast and loose with the facts, to uproarious effect. Irving�'s good-humored spoofing had staying
power, and his satire provided the city with its first self-portrait. A History of New York propelled Irving to the heights of literary stardom and even made a little history of its own:
New Yorkers are called Knickerbockers to this day.
