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	A good contribution to the study of immigration in the U.S. and is recommended for high school and public libraries. Even libraries that own some of the larger sets on which it is based will appreciate the convenience of having widely scattered material pulled together in two volumes.
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Immigration in U.S. History
An encylopedic survey of U.S. immigration, from early 17th century through the present day.

Of the many themes that characterize U.S. history, immigration is one of the most constant and most pervasive. Since the first European and African immigrants began arriving in North America during the early 17th century, immigrants have steadily poured into what is now the United States.

Of the 281,421,056 residents of the nation counted by the U.S. Census in 2000, nearly 99 percent traced their ancestry to immigrants who arrived here within in the past four centuries. Moreover, even Native Americans - who make up the remainder - can trace their ancestry to immigrants who came thousands of years earlier. The United States is, indeed, a nation of immigrants.

Because the United States is a nation of immigrants, it is obvious that most of the contributions to the building of the country have been made by immigrants and their descendants. Nevertheless, immigration has long been a subject of debate - now more than ever. Questions of security and safety are now part of any discussion of immigration and travel in the country by non-citizens.

Immigration in U.S. History examines the many issues surrounding immigration - from the earliest settlement of British North America in the 17th century through the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks of the 21st century. The two-volume set's 193 articles explore immigration from a wide variety of perspectives: border control and law enforcement (20+ articles), court cases (9), demographics (47), discrimination (29), economic and labor issues (25), events (32), family issues (22), government and politics (13), illegal 17), language and education (15), laws and treaties (25), literature (3), nativism and racism (24), refugees (22), religion (21), sociological theories (14), and stereotypes (10).

Immigration in U.S. History places special emphasis on the many ethnic communities that have provided American immigrants. Readers will find articles treating African Americans; Asian immigrants, including articles specifically on Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Korean, Japanese, Pacific Islander, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Tibetan, and Vietnamese immigrants; Latino and West Indian immigrants, including articles specifically on Cubans, Dominicans, Haitians, Jamaicans, and Mexicans; Middle Eastern immigrants, including articles specifically on Arabs, Iranians, and Israelis; European immigrants, including articles on German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish, Russian, and Scandinavian immigrants.

Each of the alphabetically arranged articles in Immigration in U.S. History opens with the type of ready-reference top matter for which Salem Press's reference works are well known. The first entry following every title is a brief passage that defines or identifies the article's subject. Articles on such subjects as events, court cases, organizations, and laws have additional entries that provide dates and places, as relevant. The next item in every article is a brief italicized statement summarizing its subject's significance. Readers can thus see the most essential information about every topic at a glance.

Boldface subheads help guide readers through longer articles, and all articles are followed by up-to-date Further Reading notes. Additional bibliographical help can be found the general bibliography at the end of volume 2.

Immigration in U.S. History offers several features to help readers find the information they need. The first and most obvious feature is the alphabetical arrangement of the essays, whose titles are worded to facilitate to make finding topics as straightforward as possible. Readers may either go directly to the articles they seek or look for them in the complete list of contents that can found at the front of each volume. Readers who cannot find what they need in the article titles will find substantial additional help in the set's detailed indexes of court cases, laws and treaties, personages, and general subjects at the end of Volume 2. Volume 2 also has a Categorized List of Topics that should help readers who are uncertain under what headings they should look. Finally, every article is followed by a list of cross-references to other articles on closely related subjects. Readers are encouraged to follow the paths that these cross-references provide.