Americans: A Collision of Histories - Hardcover

Whether America is a "melting pot" of hybrid breeds dissolved into a composite people or a "tossed salad" of distinct groups roughly mixed is a debate that has grown considerably in recent years. Edward Countryman, a Southern Methodist University professor and author of several history books, weighs in with a sweeping examination of America's early years. Or specifically, he provides a look at the histories of the ethnic groups that make up the country. His conclusions are not simple generalizations, but rather a story laid bare of cultures clashing and the confused result.

This book began with a chance encounter. On a summer evening late in the 1980s a young black man stopped me to ask for directions in the English town where I used to live. That was no surprise. Asian, African, Afro-Caribbean, black British, and white people all lived in the neighborhood. His speech, however was American, and I was delighted to hear it. I speak American too, despite my long time overseas, and he was just as glad to hear me.