Read about another book on the list.The Irish Way
by James R. Barrett
By 1900, there were more people of Irish descent in the U.S. than in Ireland. Barrett documents the important roles Irish-Americans played in shaping the urban centers of their adopted homeland -- whether in church, on the police force, or behind the bar -- and how, as the sources of immigration shifted to southern and eastern Europe, successive waves of Italians and Poles adopted the Irish model of assimilation. When the melting pot threatened to overflow, some Irish Americans sought to drive out these new arrivals. But Catholicism's message of inclusion, memories of hostility upon their own landing, and the need for votes led to a wave of progressive political activism that embraced immigrants and ultimately fashioned modern America.
Also see: Frank Delaney's five best books on Ireland and top ten Irish novels.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
