Diedrich Knickerbocker was created in 1809 by a young Washington Irving, who used the character to narrate his classic satire, A History of New York. This volume offers a cultural history of a city with a rich and lively literary past, and is the first book on the eponymous myth that has informed New York City culture since the early 1800s.

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
The Picture of Knickerbocker
Inheriting Knickerbocker
Fashioning a Knickerbocracy
Knickerbocker in a New Century
Conclusion
Notes
Index

Elizabeth L. Bradley is the Senior Director of Programs and Engagement at Historic Hudson Valley. She is the author of Cityscopes: New York and has edited several volumes of Washington Irving's work. Dr. Bradley has written for The New York Times, Smithsonian.com, Salon, and McSweeney's, among other publications.