The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: a classic work in immigration history

by William Isaac Thomas, Florian Znaniecki

This new, abridged edition of the classic five-volume work The Polish Peasant in Europe and America brings together documents and commentary that illuminate the lives of the nearly two million Poles who emigrated to America between 1880 and 1910. The new introduction and epilogue make the book especially valuable in teaching United States history survey courses as well as immigration history and introductory sociology courses.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, History, Urban Studies

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

William Isaac Thomas, Ph.D. (Sociology, University of Chicago, 1896; B.A., University of Tennessee, 1884), was a professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Chicago, and co-editor of the American Journal of Sociology, 1895–1917.

Working with Florian Znaniecki, Thomas influenced the use of empirical methods in sociological research and contributed theories to the sociology of migration. Later, he provided a theoretical foundation for the field of symbolic interactionism with the Thomas theorem: "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences."

Reviews

[Abby Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is the longest book ive ever read and it didn’t finish it. i read like the 500 pages of primary source letters in the back for my research paper and i hope i never have to do that again, some people need to write better letters or add more juicy drama

[Robert Marovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a delight to have this well-organized abridgement of the five-volume set.