This book offers a balanced; poignant; and often moving portrait of America’s immigrants over more than a century. The author has organized the book by decades so that readers can easily find the time period most relevant to their experience or that of family members. The first part covers the Ellis Island era; the second part America’s new immigrants—from the closing of Ellis Island in 1955 to the present. Also included is a comprehensive appendix of statistics showing immigration by country and decade from 1890 to the present; a complete list of famous immigrants; and much more. This rewarding; engrossing volume documents the diverse mosaic of America in the words of the people from many lands; who for more than a century have made our country what it is today. It distills the larger; hot-topic issue of national immigration down to the personal level of the lives of those who actually lived it.
#1688393 in Books 2015-12-15 2015-12-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.30 x 1.00 x 6.20l; 1.23 #File Name: 1612518419272 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. good map and diagram of shipBy Kindle CustomerVery readable; good map and diagram of ship.3 of 8 people found the following review helpful. SOMETHING MISSING?By Rod Newman2015 has been a good year for books about the CSS Shenandoah; three having been published; and each with a different emphasis. "Confederate Biography" is a good read and gives an extensive overview of the whole cruise. Another book; "Australian Confederates" by Terry Smyth concentrates on those men who enlisted for illegal service in Melbourne. But the first book published this year was "The Last Confederate Ship at Sea" by Paul Williams. This asserts a liaison between Captain James Waddell and the prisoner Lillias Nichols; leading to Waddell being blackmailed by Master's Mate Cornelius Hunt. This resulted in the ship’s circumnavigation of the globe; against orders. Williams lays out a series of documents and events which would appear to validate his assertions; including the alteration of Waddell's memoirs before publication in 1960. This was at the behest of Mrs Nichols' relatives who supplied information and family photos including one of Lillias herself "Confederate Biography" does mention Mrs. Nichols' alluring charms and Hunt's claim that Waddell returned to Liverpool to procure a "considerable sum of money;" but makes no mention of Hunt's subsequent charge of Waddell having stolen wages from both officers and crew - payback for not paying hush money according to "Last Confederate Ship at Sea." Also excluded from a conversation about family photos was Lining writing that Mrs. Nichols' foolish husband was "obliged to suspect his wife to keep his eyes on her to prevent her doing wrong." A good biography; Confederate or otherwise; should cover all facets; not an air-brushed version of events. Now that the behind the scenes story is out there; it is not going to disappear. It was discovered many years after the death of Warren Harding that he had been blackmailed over a love affair. If this could happen to an American president there is no reason the same thing could not happen to a Confederate sea captain. "Confederate Biography" is an acceptable conventional retelling of the Shenandoah story in the wake of others; like "Sea of Gray." But there would appear to be something missing.
