The British acquisition of Manhattan was due as much to other factors, not least of which was the propensity of the island's already self-absorbed residents to steal chunks of timber and stone from its main fort for use in building their own homes. As for Manhattan's rise and rise, that would seem to have a little to do with the inhabitants who remained when the British sailed out through the Verrazano Narrows in 1783, leaving the place in rubble.

But this overreaching detracts only slightly from what is a rousing historical romp. Milton leaves one both yearning for a time when the world seemed full of infinite adventure and appalled by what greed did to such a paradise. It is particularly sobering to read of the tendency of the Europeans to slaughter anyone they came across. A Dutch sailor's reaction to another orgy of bloodletting visited upon the Bantam Javanese for asking too high a price for their nutmeg sums it up splendidly: ''There was nothing missing and everything was perfect except what was wrong with ourselves.''