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bookzealots's review against another edition
1.0
Sadly, this book is more about the author's microaggressions and his own racism. I thought it would be history, not his viewpoint of history.
anirtak's review against another edition
5.0
Four and a half stars. Docked half a star because at times all his references to The Tempest can be a bit too much, not to mention the insertions of songs, poems, etc. While it adds to the realism of the events (in that people are making poetry about any particular event), sometimes the placement in the text distracts the readers from the events instead of pulling them in.
Apart from that, I think this is an excellent book on the history of multicultural America. I've read a few US History books (most of them for school), and I don't think I've known as much about what the different cultural groups have experienced before and after arriving to the United States--for example, the journey of the Russian Jews, or the difficulties of Irish immigrants. Because the text focuses on the so-called minorities, I think this is good for supplementing what people know about the US history, but not entirely good for replacing US History textbooks. There's still a long way to go before a true multicultural US History book deviating from the very narrow Master Narrative will be published, but until then, this will do.
It's a very easy read, although the length can be a bit daunting at times. Highly recommended.
Apart from that, I think this is an excellent book on the history of multicultural America. I've read a few US History books (most of them for school), and I don't think I've known as much about what the different cultural groups have experienced before and after arriving to the United States--for example, the journey of the Russian Jews, or the difficulties of Irish immigrants. Because the text focuses on the so-called minorities, I think this is good for supplementing what people know about the US history, but not entirely good for replacing US History textbooks. There's still a long way to go before a true multicultural US History book deviating from the very narrow Master Narrative will be published, but until then, this will do.
It's a very easy read, although the length can be a bit daunting at times. Highly recommended.
pidgevorg's review against another edition
3.0
Has an interesting premise, but doesn't quite have the depth I expected. It mostly consisted of a series of formulaic tales of woe—here is how group X came to America, and how decent and hard-working they were, and how the Anglos mistreated them, and here is how group Y came here, and also worked hard and was decent, and was also mistreated, etc. I guess there might still be people out there who have prejudices about minorities and aren't aware that this country has a history of racism and ethnic discrimination... So this was important info and I'm glad it was in the book, but it's not enough. I hoped it would present major trends in US history from the point of view of minorities, and highlight their contributions and influences on mainstream history and culture, but this was done only occasionally and inconsistently. Takaki provides a lot of selective details, but not enough analysis. I'm not sure if that's because of the author's choices, or because there is simply not enough primary sources available to do this—he does get better the closer he gets to modern times. So it may not be his fault, but either way, I was underwhelmed with the final result.
carlislerose17's review against another edition
5.0
An important book for anyone, but especially for me, as a white person who is trying to talk less and listen more.