A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America

Book – Non-fiction. By Ronald Takaki. 2008. 560 pages.
A multicultural history of America, in the voices of Native Americans, African Americans, Jews, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and others.

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Winner of an American Book Award, A Different Mirror recounts U.S. history in the voices of Native Americans, African Americans, Jews, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and others.

Takaki turns the Anglocentric historical viewpoint inside out and examines the ultimate question of what it means to be an American.

The book is an excellent companion to A People’s History of the United States.

Published by Hachette Book Group.

ISBN: 9780316022361

“Takaki traces the economic and political history of Indians, African Americans, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, Irish, and Jewish people in America, with considerable attention given to instances and consequences of racism. The narrative is laced with short quotations, cameos of personal experiences, and excerpts from folk music and literature. Well-known occurrences, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, the Trail of Tears, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Japanese internment are included. Students may be surprised by some of the revelations, but will recognize a constant thread of rampant racism. The author concludes with a summary of today’s changing economic climate and offers Rodney King’s challenge to all of us to try to get along. Students will find this overview to be an accessible, cogent jumping-off place for American history and political science assignments, plus a guide to the myriad other sources identified in the notes. – Barbara Hawkins, Oakton High School, Fairfax, VA for the School Library Journal