The Chinese in America
By Iris Chang |
Hardback Editions of this Book
ORDER -- Item #3316, Price $16.00
In the course of her narrative, Chang chronicles the many accomplishments of Chinese immigrants and their descendents in America: building the transcontinental railroad, working on southern plantations after the Civil War, fighting racist and exclusionary laws, walking the racial tightrope between black and white, contributing to major scientific and technological advances, expanding the literary canon, and influencing the way we think about racial and ethnic groups. At the heart of her book are the stories of individuals - the activists, workers, entrepreneurs, politicians, scientists, writers, and families whose lives, struggles, and victories have shaped and been shaped by this history.
Interweaving political, social, economic, and cultural history, as well as the stories of individuals, Chang offers a bracing view not only of what it means to be Chinese American, but also of what it is to be American.
This book essentially tells two stories.
The first explains why at certain times in China's history certain
Chinese made the very hard and frightening decision to leave the
country of their ancestors and the company of their own people to
make a new life for themselves in the United States.
The second
story examines what happened to these Chinese emigrets once they got
here. Did they struggle to find their place in the United States?
Did they succeed? And if so, how much more difficult was their
struggle because of the racism and xenophobia of other Americans?
What were the dominant patterns of assimilation? It would be
expected that the first-arriving generations of Chinese, like the
first generations of other immigrant groups, would resist the
assimilation of their children. But to what degree, and how
successfully?
This is just the beginning of the stories...
"Richly detailed...I know of no
better introduction to this multi-layered and emotionally charged
story."
"Meticulously researched...A gripping account that holds the reader's attention from beginning to end."
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year
Irrefutably, Iris
Chang won many battles in her fight for justice. But as she began to
manifest symptoms of bipolar illness, she perceived them as a failure
of will. Such harsh logic, symptomatic of the disease, rendered her
unable to extend her own magnificent compassion to herself. In the
end, the war she could not win raged internally.
Book Description From the Back Cover
Bestselling author Iris Chang takes on her largest subject yet in The Chinese in America, the extraordinary history of one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States. In an epic story that spans 150 years and continues to the present day, Iris Chang tells of a people's search for a better life and the determination of the Chinese to forge an identity and a destiny in a strange land and, often against great obstacles, to find success.
Author's Description
The story of the Chinese in America is the story of a journey, from
one of the world's oldest civilizations to one of its newest. The
United States was still a very young country when the Chinese began
arriving in significant numbers, and the wide-ranging contributions
of these immigrants to the building of their adopted country have
made it what it is today.
Comments From the Back Cover
"A thought-provoking overview of how the Chinese have been an
integral part of American history...An exemplary achievement."
-
The Christian Science Monitor
-Jonathan D. Spence, Sterling Professor of
History,
Yale University, and author of The Search for Modern
China
Miscellaneous Comments on the Book
"Informative, thought-provoking and entertaining."
- Asian Week
- Nien Cheng, author of Life and Death in Shanghai
About the Author
IRIS SHUN-RU CHANG is the author of the international
bestseller The Rape of Nanking. After graduating with a
degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, she worked briefly as a reporter in Chicago before winning
a graduate fellowship to the writing seminars program at The Johns
Hopkins University. Her first book, Thread of the Silkworm,
told the story of Tsien Hsue-shen, father of the People's Repulic of
China's missile program. Iris Chang is the recipient of numerous
honors, including the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation's
Program on Peace and International Cooperation Award, the Woman of
the Year Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans, and an
honorary doctorate from the College of Wooster in Ohio. Her work has
appeared in many publications such as Newsweek, The New York
Times, and the Los Angeles Times. She lived with her
family in San Jose, CA, until depression tragically claimed her
promising life on November 9, 2004 at age 36.
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Copyright © 2005 by AACP, Inc.
Most recent revision October 27, 2005