Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1870-1920: How the Second Great Wave of Immigrants Made Their Way in America

The second wave of U.S. immigration, from 1870 to 1920, brought more than 26 million men, women, and children onto American shores. June Alexander's history of the period underscores the diversity of peoples who came to the United States in these years and emphasizes the important shifts in their geographic origins-from northern and western Europe to southern and eastern Europe-that led to the distinction between old and new immigrants.

Ms. Alexander offers an engrossing picture of the immigrants' daily lives, including the settlement patterns of individuals and families, the demographics and characteristics of each of the ethnic groups, and the pressures to "Americanize" that often made the adjustment to life in a new country so difficult. This is history with an appealing immediacy, on a level that everyone can understand. With 46 illustrations.