Irish Americans, The: A History (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
I was prepared going in to this for it to read somewhat like a textbook but also expected it to be an enjoyable as well as an educational read. It wasn't. It turned out to be a real struggle to get through and I quit around the half-way point, only quickly skimming the rest.Dolan attempts to cover four main topics (religion, politics, labor, nationalism) over a large span of time across several main cities (Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, Chicago). An applaudable effort but the presentation makes it overwhelming. There's quite a bit of repetition and it's absolutely loaded with statistical figures which would have been much better suited as charts/graphs in an appendix rather than in the narrative. My heritage is Irish American. I am traveling in Ireland at this time. Much research went into this book of Irish history. I appreciate learning about the lands (Ireland and USA) of my ancestors. I gained knowledge from this book. Cannot say that I enjoyed reading it. There was too much repetition of facts. I was bored, but kept reading. I did learn about "Mother Jones" and ordered a book about her..two days ago. Then yesterday, I learned of a Mother Jones Festival to take place in Ireland later this month.
What do You think about Irish Americans, The: A History (2014)?
The book was good, but I just got tired of reading non-fiction...
—BrickFlower
Won it in a First Reads contest. Looking forward to reading it.
—mona
Great info on the history of the Irish in America!
—Amber
