Good Americans: Italian and Jewish Immigrants During the First World War

by Christopher M. Sterba

Overview

Among the Americans who joined the ranks of the Doughboys fighting World War I were thousands of America's newest residents. Good Americans examines the contributions of Italian and Jewish immigrants, both on the homefront and overseas, in the Great War. While residing in strong, insular communities, both groups faced a barrage of demands to participate in a conflict that had been raging in their home countries for nearly three years. Italians and Jews "did their bit" in relief, recruitment, conservation, and war bond campaigns, while immigrants and second-generation ethnic soldiers fought on the Western front. Within a year of the Armistice, they found themselves redefined as foreigners and perceived as a major threat to American life, rather than remembered as participants in its defense. Wartime experiences, Christopher Sterba argues, served to deeply politicize first and second generation immigrants, greatly accelerating their transformation from relatively powerless newcomers to a major political force in the United States during the New Deal and beyond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195154887
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/27/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1460L (what's this?)

About the Author

Christopher M. Sterba received his Ph.D. in American history from Brandeis University and lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Editorial Reviews

"Sterba recognizes the unique complexity of the process by which identity is constructed and suggests thatthe impact of the war on immigrant consciousness was to no small extent a function of the specific cultural background of each group, the local socioeconomic and political realities each faces in America, and the military units in which its members served...This is a generally interesting, informative, and well-textured book."—New York History

"A well-researched and well-argued monograph. For anyone interested in immigration, urban or, World War One history."—H-Net Reviews

"Good Americans provides rich detail on the role of the state and federal government, especially the military, in the lives of ordinary immigrants."—American Jewish History

From the Publisher