Crossings

"Nugent (Notre Dame) is a fine historian and a good storyteller. His latest book is a multilayered narrative of the movement of millions of Europeans to the Americas. Different from many other descriptions of the transatlantic passages, which tend to be focused on one side of the ocean (the lands of the senders) or the other (the countries of reception and resettlement), Crossings tears down what Frank Thistlewaite once called a saltwater curtain. Nugent moves—and moves his readers—back and forth across the Atlantic, describing the social and political conditions that pushed Europeans out of the Old World and the factors—not least of which was the promise of a better life—that pulled them into the New World, particularly to this country and to Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. Using a variety of social and demographic data by which to compare the several countries of immigration, the author challenges certain widely held assumptions about American [meaning US] exceptionalism. That is one of the subtexts in this interesting and informative work. Added bonuses include excellent maps, clearly presented tables, and a dozen classic photographs of the migrants at home in Europe, enroute to America, and in their new societies.Crossings: The Great Transatlantic Migrations, 1870–1914"—P. I. Rose, Smith College