Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815 [Paperback]

Kerby A. Miller (Editor), Arnold Schrier (Editor), Bruce D. Boling (Editor), David N. Doyle (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0195154894 | ISBN-13: 978-0195154894

Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan is a monumental and pathbreaking study of early Irish Protestant and Catholic migration to America. Through exhaustive research and sensitive analyses of the letters, memoirs, and other writings, the authors describe the variety and vitality of early Irish immigrant experiences, ranging from those of frontier farmers and seaport workers to revolutionaries and loyalists. Largely through the migrants own words, it brings to life the networks, work, and experiences of these immigrants who shaped the formative stages of American society and its Irish communities. The authors explore why Irishmen and women left home and how they adapted to colonial and revolutionary America, in the process creating modern Irish and Irish-American identities on the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan was the winner of the James S. Donnelly, Sr., Prize for Books on History and Social Sciences, American Council on Irish Studies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A thoughtful, often-penetrating analysis .The extraordinary scale, extensive annotation, breadth of understanding, and intimacy in accounting make this book a must-read." --Journal of American History

"For scholars in American and Irish Cultural Studies, this impressive and brilliantly interpreted compilation of letters and memoirs is surely of paramount importance, as it presents both a minute and comprehensive account of the reasons of Irish emigration to the 'promised land' across the Atlantic and of the settlers' experience there; but it is lf interest also to historians and linguists who wish to examine a corpus of authentic letters and memoirs of Irish immigrants of various social classes and age groups from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. Finally, for the common (American) reader, the texts can help to do away with the widespread mistaken belief that the immigrants were almost exclusively Catholic papers of Celtic origin, who were forced by bloodsucking Protestant landlords of English descent to leave the Emerald Isle."--Amerikastudien

"A stunning scholarly accomplishment and a major contribution to historical scholarship in a variety of fields."--Journal of Social History

"A stunning accomplishment and will long be an influential work in multiple fields. It is also a testament to the quality of work produced when top scholars collaborate." --Documentary Editing

About the Author

Kerby A. Miller is Middlebush Professor of History at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Arnold Schrier is the Walter C. Langsam Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cincinnati. Bruce D. Boling is Senior Cataloger, University of New Mexico General Library. David Noel Doyle is Statutory Lecturer in History, University College-Dublin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195154894
• ISBN-13: 978-0195154894
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #730,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)