The lives of millions of fellow Americans.

The Routledge History of Italian Americans weaves a narrative of the trials and triumphs of one of the nation’s largest ethnic groups. This history, comprising original essays by leading scholars and critics, addresses themes that include the Columbian legacy, immigration, the labor movement, discrimination, anarchism, Fascism, World War II patriotism, assimilation, gender identity and popular culture. This landmark volume offers a clear and accessible overview of work in the growing academic field of Italian American Studies. Rich illustrations bring the story to life, drawing out the aspects of Italian American history and culture that make this ethnic group essential to the American experience.

This richly researched, beautifully illustrated volume illuminates an important, overlooked part of American history. From extensive archival materials and interviews with well-known Italian Americans, Maria Laurino strips away stereotypes and nostalgia to tell the complicated, centuries-long story of the true Italian-American experience. Looking beyond the familiar Little Italys and stereotypes fostered by The Godfather and The Sopranos, Laurino reveals surprising, fascinating lives: Italian-Americans working on sugar-cane plantations in Louisiana to those who were lynched in New Orleans; the banker who helped rebuild San Francisco after the great earthquake; families interned as “enemy aliens” in World War II. From anarchist radicals to “Rosie the Riveter” to Nancy Pelosi, Andrew Cuomo, and Bill de Blasio; from traditional artisans to rebel songsters like Frank Sinatra, Dion, Madonna, and Lady Gaga, this book is both exploration and celebration of the rich legacy of Italian-American life. Readers can discover the history chronologically, chapter by chapter, or serendipitously by exploring the trove of supplemental materials. These include interviews, newspaper clippings, period documents, and photographs that bring the history to life.

The Italian/American Experience represents a meaningful attempt to inform Italian Americans about their group's varied experiences in America. This collection of eleven works offers readers an in-depth view of Italian American culture and heritage.

Comprised mostly of memoirs with some fiction, this volume gathers selections from the writings of 85 immigrants from 45 countries that illustrate the changing views of immigrants in the United States.

Not much has been written about the Italian immigrant experience prior to 1880. This book, through careful analysis of primary and archival sources, brings to life the Civil War-time trials and tribulations of several notable Italian Americans--Bancroft Gherardi, Luigi Palma di Cesnola, Francis B. Spinola, Decimus et Ultimus Barziza, and Edward Ferrero, among others. Though their numbers were few, Italian Americans played central roles in the bloodiest war in our country's history. Included in this book are samples of John Garibaldi's wartime correspondence to his wife, lists of Italian Americans who served as officers and noncommissioned sailors in the Union Navy, and first-hand correspondence of William Howell Reed (Virginia hospitals overseer under President Grant) and the brother of a young Italian who died in the hospital during the war. Sons of Garibaldi in Blue and Gray fills a critical gap in studies of Italian American life in the United States in the late 1800s.

The entire Italian American experience—from America's earliest days through the present—is now available in a single volume. This wide-ranging work relates the entire saga of the Italian-American experience from immigration through assimilation to achievement. The book highlights the enormous contributions that Italian Americans—the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States—have made to the professions, politics, academy, arts, and popular culture of America. Going beyond familiar names and stories, it also captures the essence of everyday life for Italian Americans as they established communities and interacted with other ethnic groups. In this single volume, readers will be able to explore why Italians came to America, where they settled, and how their distinctive identity was formed. A diverse array of entries that highlight the breadth of this experience, as well as the multitude of ways in which Italian Americans have influenced U.S. history and culture, are presented in five thematic sections. Featured primary documents range from a 1493 letter from Christopher Columbus announcing his discovery to excerpts from President Barack Obama's 2011 speech to the National Italian American Foundation. Readers will come away from this book with a broader understanding of and greater appreciation for Italian Americans' contributions to the United States.

A history of Italian immigrants in Philadelphia with an emphasis on the development of an Italian community before the beginning of mass immigration in the 1870s. Begins with a series of biographical sketches of the first arrivals to leave some trace of their presence during the 18th century. Employing state and church records, the reconstruction shifts to historical demography to define the components of an emerging subculture, and then concludes using historical sociology to shape the narrative and analysis. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR