EasterBlack-owned or founded brands at TargetGroceryClothing, Shoes & AccessoriesBabyHomeFurnitureKitchen & DiningOutdoor Living & GardenToysElectronicsVideo GamesMovies, Music & BooksSports & OutdoorsBeautyPersonal CareHealthPetsHousehold EssentialsArts, Crafts & SewingSchool & Office SuppliesParty SuppliesLuggageGift IdeasGift CardsClearanceTarget New ArrivalsTarget Finds#TargetStyleTop DealsTarget Circle DealsWeekly AdShop Order PickupShop Same Day DeliveryRegistryRedCardTarget CircleFind Stores

The Chinese and the Iron Road - (Asian America) by Gordon H Chang & Shelley Fisher Fishkin (Paperback)

The Chinese and the Iron Road - (Asian America) by  Gordon H Chang & Shelley Fisher Fishkin (Paperback) - 1 of 1
$25.49 sale price when purchased online
$32.00 list price
Target Online store #3991

About this item

Highlights

  • The completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 1869 is usually told as a story of national triumph and a key moment for American Manifest Destiny.
  • About the Author: Gordon H. Chang and Shelley Fisher Fishkin are Co-Directors of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford; Hilton Obenzinger is Associate Director and Roland Hsu is Director of Research.
  • 560 Pages
  • History, United States
  • Series Name: Asian America

Description



About the Book



This landmark volume sheds light on the lives and experiences of the Chinese workers who made up 90% of the workforce that built the Central Pacific Railroad--but who have been little understood and largely invisible in traditional accounts of the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad.



Book Synopsis



The completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 1869 is usually told as a story of national triumph and a key moment for American Manifest Destiny. The Railroad made it possible to cross the country in a matter of days instead of months, paved the way for new settlers to come out west, and helped speed America's entry onto the world stage as a modern nation that spanned a full continent. It also created vast wealth for its four owners, including the fortune with which Leland Stanford would found Stanford University some two decades later. But while the Transcontinental has often been celebrated in national memory, little attention has been paid to the Chinese workers who made up 90 percent of the workforce on the Western portion of the line. The Railroad could not have been built without Chinese labor, but the lives of Chinese railroad workers themselves have been little understood and largely invisible.

This landmark volume explores the experiences of Chinese railroad workers and their place in cultural memory. The Chinese and the Iron Road illuminates more fully than ever before the interconnected economies of China and the US, how immigration across the Pacific changed both nations, the dynamics of the racism the workers encountered, the conditions under which they labored, and their role in shaping both the history of the railroad and the development of the American West.



Review Quotes




"[An] eclectic and comprehensive study that brings visibility to the monumental and very intimate human stories too long submerged beneath the pageantry of the golden spike ceremony."--Timothy Dean Draper, Journal of American Ethnic History

"[A] generous and beautiful [offering] to the ghosts of California's landscapes, necessary for the deep reckoning that is sorely needed in that storied place."--Douglas Cazaux Sackman, Reviews in American History

"[Detailed] and informative. The anthology shows the care that these authors and scholars who are part of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project took in trying to piece together a largely unknown narrative. The sheer attempt of such a project is commendable."--Marimas Hosan Mostiller, China Review International

"[This] exciting collection of scholarly articles represents a major contribution to labor history and to the new wave of Chinese-American studies that is global in scope but intensely focused on recovering and illuminating the lives of the ten- to fifteen- thousand Chinese workers who constructed the Central Pacific Railroad section of the Transcontinental Railroad."--Robert Cliver, Technology and Culture

"Gordon H. Chang and Shelley Fisher Fishkin's monumental edited work The Chinese and the Iron Road is an impressive collection of interdisciplinary essays....This collection is essential and provides tools for scholars seeking to understand not only the lives of Chinese railroad workers but also the U.S. West and any other groups that left behind few written sources. Specialists and lay readers alike are encouraged to read this engaging work."--Stephanie Hinnershitz, Journal of American History

"Scholars Gordon Chang [and Shelley Fisher Fishkin] deserve praise for this...memorial, a commemoration to the almost entirely nameless thousands whose labor became the biographical [Stanford] university itself."--William Deverell, Pacific Historical Review

"The long-awaited The Chinese and the Iron Road makes visible the previously invisible Chinese railroad workers who built America's first transcontinental railroad. They are given names, family lives, homes, spiritual beliefs, and agency. The research is astounding. The wide variety of interdisciplinary, international, and collaborative perspectives--from archaeology to family history--is revelatory and a model for future collaborative projects. This timely and essential volume preserves the humanity of the often-ignored and forgotten immigrant worker, while also uncovering just how important Chinese American railroad workers were in the making of America and its place in the world."--Erika Lee, author of The Making of Asian America

"To understand the emergence of the United States as a major player on the world stage, we must recognize the importance of its two-ocean power, which the transcontinental railroad made possible. Deeply researched and richly detailed, The Chinese and the Iron Road brings to life the Chinese immigrants whose work was essential to the railroad's construction."--Thomas Bender, author of A Nation Among Nations: America's Place in World History

"When I wrote a play in the early 1980s about Chinese workers on the American transcontinental railroad, information was scarce, and often of questionable accuracy. Gordon H. Chang and Shelley Fisher Fishkin's meticulously researched and beautifully written book fills this critical gap in our nation's history. The Chinese and the Iron Road brings to life the stories of workers who defied incredible odds and gave their lives to unite these states into a nation."--David Henry Hwang, Tony Award-winning playwright of The Dance and the Railroad and M. Butterfly

"Destined to become the go-to resource about Chinese railroad workers in the American West. This anthology assembles an international, interdisciplinary team of leading scholars to conduct the most extensive and thoughtful exploration of these near-mythic, yet heretofore scantly researched, historical subjects producing insights not only into the material conditions of their labor and lives but also the ideological implications of their ubiquity contrasted against their individual illegibility."-Madeline Hsu, author of The Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority



About the Author



Gordon H. Chang and Shelley Fisher Fishkin are Co-Directors of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford; Hilton Obenzinger is Associate Director and Roland Hsu is Director of Research.
Dimensions (Overall): 8.9 Inches (H) x 6.0 Inches (W) x 1.5 Inches (D)
Weight: 1.85 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 560
Genre: History
Sub-Genre: United States
Series Title: Asian America
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Theme: 19th Century
Format: Paperback
Author: Gordon H Chang & Shelley Fisher Fishkin
Language: English
Street Date: April 30, 2019
TCIN: 94270973
UPC: 9781503609242
Item Number (DPCI): 247-45-3594
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
If the item details above aren’t accurate or complete, we want to know about it.

Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 1.5 inches length x 6 inches width x 8.9 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1.85 pounds
We regret that this item cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.
This item cannot be shipped to the following locations: American Samoa (see also separate entry under AS), Guam (see also separate entry under GU), Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico (see also separate entry under PR), United States Minor Outlying Islands, Virgin Islands, U.S., APO/FPO

Return details

This item can be returned to any Target store or Target.com.
This item must be returned within 90 days of the date it was purchased in store, shipped, delivered by a Shipt shopper, or made ready for pickup.
See the return policy for complete information.

Related Categories

Get top deals, latest trends, and more.

Privacy policy

Footer

About Us

About TargetCareersNews & BlogTarget BrandsBullseye ShopSustainability & GovernancePress CenterAdvertise with UsInvestorsAffiliates & PartnersSuppliersTargetPlus

Help

Target HelpReturnsTrack OrdersRecallsContact UsFeedbackAccessibilitySecurity & FraudTeam Member Services

Stores

Find a StoreClinicPharmacyTarget OpticalMore In-Store Services

Services

Target Circle™Target Circle™ CardTarget Circle 360™Target AppRegistrySame Day DeliveryOrder PickupDrive UpFree 2-Day ShippingShipping & DeliveryMore Services
PinterestFacebookInstagramXYoutubeTiktokTermsCA Supply ChainPrivacyCA Privacy RightsYour Privacy ChoicesInterest Based AdsHealth Privacy Policy