Chinese on the American Frontier - (Pacific Formations: Global Relations in Asian and Pacific Pe) by Arif Dirlik & Malcolm Yeung (Paperback)

About the Book

Chinese immigrants played a dynamic role in frontier America, yet scholars of Asian America have focused for the most part only on the Pacific Coast, especially California. This reader fills that gap by collecting memoirs, documents, and historical analyses from the other Western states--from the Cascades to the Great Plains--to provide a comprehensive overview of the Chinese in nineteenth-century America.

Book Synopsis

Chinese immigrants played a dynamic role in frontier America, yet scholars of Asian America have focused for the most part only on the Pacific Coast, especially California. This reader fills that gap by collecting memoirs, documents, and historical analyses from the other Western states-from the Cascades to the Great Plains-to provide a comprehensive overview of the Chinese in nineteenth-century America. Selecting among a wealth of primary and secondary material, Dirlik has chosen works that enlarge our understanding of the Chinese presence in the West and the development of Chinese cultural formations on the frontier. Providing insights not only into frontier society in the United States, but also into U.S.-Chinese relations of the time, this volume will be invaluable for all readers interested in China, Western history, and the history of Asian America.

Review Quotes

"An informative resource for libraries, historical societies, and scholars who focus on western and/or Chinese American history." --Choice Reviews

"The reader serves as a convenient source about scholarship on Chinese and American western frontier." --Journal of American Ethnic History

"The contributors provide interesting information on how Chinese people lived in the Southwest, Northwest, and Rocky Mountain states during the late 1800s. . . . This text is a useful addition to libraries that specialize in Chinese American studies." --Library Journal

About the Author

Arif Dirlik is professor of history at University of Oregon. Malcolm Yeung graduated in 1997 with a Master's degree in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder.