Narratives of New Netherland reads like a small anthology on the discovery, origins, and history of the United States, but from a Dutch, rather than traditional English, perspective. A collection of excerpts from works spanning the years 1609 to 1664, a historical picture is painted through books, letters, journal entries, and commentaries. Works focus on Henry Hudson's voyage across the Atlantic and down the Hudson River, as well as on settlers' experiences in the New World. Readers with an interest in American History will be reminded of similar stories from English settlers first experiencing the east coast.

John Franklin Jameson was born in Somerville, Massachusetts in 1859. He attended Amherst College, where he graduated valedictorian and studied with several influential historians, as well as John Hopkins University, where he received the first doctorate ever awarded in the field of history in 1882. Jameson went on to become a history teacher, author, journalist and editor. He was the first professional historian to become president of the AHA, and had much influence on historians in the early 20th century. In 1928, he became the head of the Division of Manuscripts at the Library of Congress. Jameson died in 1937.