Posted 14 November 2005

This fascinating and extremely detailed text explores various aspects of immigration and minority group history within America. Beginning in the 1600’s, the text opens by focusing on the first wave of British immigrants, explaining the conflicts they encountered with the Native Americans, and the suspicions they had of these ‘savage and backward people’. The development of the north and south of the country is then considered, highlighting how the two areas had few similarities in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, with slavery taking the predominant role in the south and urban and industrial growth in the north. The authors then begin to trace immigration chronology throughout the book, including Irish, Japanese and Korean immigration, and end by reflecting on where America stands as an ethnically and racially diverse society. 

The text provides an understanding of the different and often difficult conditions the immigrants faced when they first arrived in America. It identifies the conflicts that often arose between American immigrants and natives, and also the influence America had on their culture as well as the effect they had on their new country. The authors also thoroughly describe the conditions many of them lived in including detailed descriptions of the tenements many inhabited and the unbearable conditions within them. The authors’ use of pictures throughout the text is of value to the reader. A drawing used of a family living in a tenement allows a visual experience and the reader can therefore relate on a greater level to the material. In addition to pictures, the authors have also included maps, graphs and tables to present data in an engaging way, again all helping the reader to gain a detailed knowledge of the subject. The text also includes figures from the 2000 U.S Census Report, allowing the reader to compare ethnicity in modern day America to that of years gone by.  

The text incorporates a vast section of American history into a compact edition, covering almost all aspects of immigration as well as the history of ethnic groups. Issues such as the Ku Klux Klan and the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War Two are all covered in a detailed fashion that doesn’t become overpowering; thus making it an ideal source for undergraduates studying American Immigration, American social history and American ethnic groups.

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