- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc; 3rd Revised edition edition (1 Sep 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195090837
- ISBN-13: 978-0195090833
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,163,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
This multicultural history of Americans should be of interest to students of American immigration, race and ethnicity.
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First Sentence
They trudged eastward through arctic summers in small family groups. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
They trudged eastward through arctic summers in small family groups. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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1 review
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Don't waste your money.
29 May 2006
Format:Paperback
I teach a community college class on racism in the US and have been looking for a worthy replacement for Ronald Takaki's "A Diferent Mirror." I borrowed this book from the library with high hopes after looking at the table of contents.
While Takaki's book is an excellent "history from below," it hasn't been updated in about 12 years. Dinnerstein's book has been updated regularly (most recently in 2003) and covers some groups that have arrived more recently, such as Southeast Asians (you have to go to "Strangers From a Different Shore" to get info on this group if you stick with Takaki) and new African and Carribean immigrants. It also contains sections that analyze the multicultural development of the US economically and politically, which Takaki's book could use more of.
I was extremely disappointed in "Natives and Strangers" for one main reason -- the writing is too simplistic. While it covers a wide range of issues and ethnic/racialized groups, it does so in an extremely cursory way -- for example, the whole of Chinese immigration (over 100 years) is covered in less than 2 pages.
The development of slavery is discussed using more pages than that, but is done so in very dry language that oversimplifies a very complex (and not to mention horrific) process. Dinnerstein's discussion of slavery conveys neither the complexity nor the horror. By contrast, Takaki's portrayal of the development of slavery along with racialization of whites and blacks uses interesting language and direct quotes from primary source materials that really brings the history to life.
Making history interesting and accessible to community college students is a priority for me. For this purpose, Dinnerstein's book falls way short. Every semester, students remark how much they enjoy Takaki, saying that they are urging their friends and family to read it. So even though Takaki is over a decade old, I'm sticking with "A Different Mirror" -- I just hope it gets updated soon!
While Takaki's book is an excellent "history from below," it hasn't been updated in about 12 years. Dinnerstein's book has been updated regularly (most recently in 2003) and covers some groups that have arrived more recently, such as Southeast Asians (you have to go to "Strangers From a Different Shore" to get info on this group if you stick with Takaki) and new African and Carribean immigrants. It also contains sections that analyze the multicultural development of the US economically and politically, which Takaki's book could use more of.
I was extremely disappointed in "Natives and Strangers" for one main reason -- the writing is too simplistic. While it covers a wide range of issues and ethnic/racialized groups, it does so in an extremely cursory way -- for example, the whole of Chinese immigration (over 100 years) is covered in less than 2 pages.
The development of slavery is discussed using more pages than that, but is done so in very dry language that oversimplifies a very complex (and not to mention horrific) process. Dinnerstein's discussion of slavery conveys neither the complexity nor the horror. By contrast, Takaki's portrayal of the development of slavery along with racialization of whites and blacks uses interesting language and direct quotes from primary source materials that really brings the history to life.
Making history interesting and accessible to community college students is a priority for me. For this purpose, Dinnerstein's book falls way short. Every semester, students remark how much they enjoy Takaki, saying that they are urging their friends and family to read it. So even though Takaki is over a decade old, I'm sticking with "A Different Mirror" -- I just hope it gets updated soon!
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