A sweeping yet intimate history of the diverse individuals who, together, make up America. Ronald Takaki uses letters, diaries & oral histories to share their stories. Workers, immigrants, shopkeepers, women, children & others, their lives often separated by ethnic borders, speak side by side as Takaki frames their voices with his own text.

Now in paperback: the acclaimed book in which America's preeminent multicultural historian scrutinizes the contradictions of the "good war" and — through the stories and voices of ordinary, ethnically diverse Americans — reveals how World War II represented a "double victory" against Fascism abroad and prejudice at home.

From a Navajo code talker to a Tuskegee pilot to a Jewish American G.I. on the front lines — these are compelling stories that reveal the true, hidden history of the "greatest generation."

Why did we drop the bomb? Was it really a military necessity? In this concise and tightly focused study, a prizewinning historian takes a fresh look at the record -- and shows how a desire to intimidate the Russians, anti-Asian prejudice, and, most tellingly, the psychological makeup of Harry Truman contributed to this century's most momentous military decision.

Ronald Takaki's "brilliant revisionist history of America" (Publishers Weekly) is a landmark work of American history retells American history from the bottom up, through the lives of many minorities - Native Americans, African Americans, Jewish Americans, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, and others - who helped create this country's mighty economy and rich mosaic culture. A Different Mirror brilliantly illuminates our country's defining strengths as it reveals America as a nation peopled by the world.

A longtime professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, Ronald Takaki was recognized as one of the foremost scholars of American ethnic history and diversity. When the first edition of "A" "Different Mirror "was published in 1993, "Publishers Weekly "called it "a brilliant revisionist history of America that is likely to become a classic of multicultural studies" and named it one of the ten best books of the year. Now Rebecca Stefoff, who adapted Howard Zinn's best-selling "A People's History of the United States "for younger readers, turns the updated 2008 edition of Takaki's multicultural masterwork into "A Different Mirror for" "Young People."
Drawing on Takaki's vast array of primary sources, and staying true to his own words whenever possible, "A" "Different Mirror for Young People "brings ethnic history alive through the words of people, including teenagers, who recorded their experiences in letters, diaries, and poems. Like Zinn's "A People's History," Takaki's "A" "Different Mirror "offers a rich and rewarding "people's view" perspective on the American story.

A sweeping yet intimate history of the diverse individuals who, together, make up America. Ronald Takaki uses letters, diaries & oral histories to share their stories. Workers, immigrants, shopkeepers, women, children & others, their lives often separated by ethnic borders, speak side by side as Takaki frames their voices with his own text.