The Chinese in America: A Narrative History by Iris Chang [in Christian Science Monitor]
In the final chapter of The Chinese in America, Iris Chang writes, “I can only close this book with a fervent hope: that readers will recognize the story of my people – the Chinese in the United States – not as a foreign story, but as a quintessentially American one.” Indeed, covering the huge expanse of almost two centuries, Chang’s story offers a thought-provoking overview of how the Chinese have been an integral part of American history – that in fact, the country as we know it could not possibly exist without the participation and contributions of Americans of Chinese descent.
“There is nothing inherently alien about the Chinese-American experience,” writes Chang, best known for her 1997 international bestseller, The Rape of Nanking. “Chinese shared the same problems as all other immigrants – universal problems that recognized no borders.”
Chang carefully traces the evolution of this American people through an interwoven history of both China and the United States, including written memoirs and recorded oral histories, countless interviews, and pieces from her own family’s narrative. …[click here for more]
Review: Christian Science Monitor, May 8, 2003
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2003
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