Americans

"The picture of Americans that emerges in this book is diverse in the best sense. In delineating the contours of the nation's ethnic makeup, Mr. Countryman avoids pat generalizations and political partisanship. He innovatively synthesizes relevant, often unfamiliar information and presents it with disarming directness . . . Americans admirably provides what we have long needed: a compact, illuminating overview of the intricate strands of early American history."—David S. Reynolds, The New York Times Book Review

"A useful contribution to our ever changing, ever more complex, understanding of who we are."—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

"With a marvelous and graceful command of detail, Countryman takes us forward through the shared experiences of all . . . Americans stands as the fairest, most sympathetic, most effectively compact synthesis of the nation's ethnic history that anyone has produced."—Carlin Romano, The Boston Globe