Almost All Aliens: Immigration, Race, and Colonialism in American History and Identity

by Paul Spickard

Almost All Aliens offers a unique reinterpretation of immigration in the history of the United States. Leaving behind the traditional melting-pot model of immigrant assimilation, Paul Spickard puts forward a fresh and provocative reconceptualization that embraces the multicultural reality of immigration that has always existed in the United States. His astute study illustrates the complex relationship between ethnic identity and race, slavery, and colonial expansion. Examining not only the lives of those who crossed the Atlantic, but also those who crossed the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the North American Borderlands, Almost All Aliens provides a distinct, inclusive analysis of immigration and identity in the United States from 1600 until the present. For additional information and classroom resources please visit the Almost All Aliens companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/almostall....

Genres: History, Race, Nonfiction, American History

724 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Quin Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent critical history of immigration, racial formation, and colonization in the territory that would become the United States. While at times Spickard felt too jingoistic and apologetic for white supremacy, nativism, settler colonialism, and imperialism, this book does a very good job deconstructing the major myths surrounding the history of how the US came to look like it does today. A good supplement to this text is A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for my immigration history class. Although I appreciated learning about the perspectives of multiple immigrant groups, I found the author's know-it-all tone to be somewhat off-putting at times.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reference and textbook on U.S. immigration and ethnic movement within national borders across a very long period (contact to present). Would assign any chapter in an undergraduate classroom.

[Mary Catherine Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent so much time reading this not to mark it as read. I didn't end up finishing it but it was very interesting and I would love to go back and finish it once the semester ends.

[celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing overview of immigration, race, and colonialism in the US. Spickard is also very conscious of use of language, which is greatly appreciated. Conscientious history!!!