Although these essays are presented in chronological order, starting with the early colonists' first encounters with Native Americans and proceeding to the increasingly multicultural America of today, there are many recurring themes and much overlap as to who, what, and how America came to be... This compelling work reflects the fluidity and complexity of American race identity. Booklist This book represents an outstanding departure from the old formula as it systematically places ethnic and racial diversity at the center of the North American experience, from first contacts between Europeans and indigenous Native American peoples right up to the present... This important contribution to ethnic studies is eminently useful. Essential [for] all public and academic levels and libraries. Choice The detailed bibliographic guides and historiographical reviews that each author provides, probably alone justify buying this work. If offers enough to reward new readers to the field, and some refreshing approaches for those more familiar. -- Andrew Fearnley Journal of American Studies This concise and helpful volume...is able to hold a torch for us, turning a shadow-behind into a light-ahead, and is thus able to serve our life now and here in this increasingly multicultural era. -- Chung-Hsiung Lai American Studies The essays in Race and Ethnicity in America provide more than a "concise history"; they provide a fine one. -- Cheryl Greenberg, Trinity College, Hartford Journal of American Ethnic History