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The History of White People Paperback – April 18, 2011

by Nell Irvin Painter (Author)

110 customer reviews

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A New York Times bestseller: “This terrific new book . . . [explores] the ‘notion of whiteness,’ an idea as dangerous as it is seductive.”―Boston Globe

Telling perhaps the most important forgotten story in American history, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter guides us through more than two thousand years of Western civilization, illuminating not only the invention of race but also the frequent praise of “whiteness” for economic, scientific, and political ends. A story filled with towering historical figures, The History of White People closes a huge gap in literature that has long focused on the non-white and forcefully reminds us that the concept of “race” is an all-too-human invention whose meaning, importance, and reality have changed as it has been driven by a long and rich history of events. 70 black-and-white illustrations

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Editorial Reviews

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Compelling, energetic, [and] highly readable.--Alan Nadel

One of the most important books ever on the social construction of the notion that there is a white race. "

[I]ntriguing and well researched. This is an important addition to the nascent academic field of whiteness studies, which examines the social construction of whiteness with particular attention to the American experience. It should be read by all historians and anyone with an interest in cultural studies. "

Compelling, energetic, [and] highly readable. --Alan Nadel"

An insightful and lively exposition from a distinguished scholar. --Linda Gordon"

About the Author

Nell Irvin Painter is the award-winning author of many books, including Sojourner Truth, Southern History Across the Color Line, Creating Black Americans, The History of White People, and Standing at Armageddon. She is currently the Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, at Princeton University and lives in Newark, New Jersey, and the Adirondacks.

Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (April 18, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393339742
ISBN-13: 978-0393339741
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.3 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 110 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Books > History > Historical Study & Educational Resources > Historiography
- #34 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Specific Demographics > Ethnic Studies
- #683 in Books > History > Americas > United States

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CMCC

Very Interesting Read

October 18, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The text explains, in detail, American policies and practices in regard to volunteer immigrants from (what I considered) white countries. Nell Painter reveals the deep research she conducted of this history (white people in America) in a way that reads almost like a novel. As such, it allows self-educators to benefit from traceable truth (not opinion) that was previously available only to researchers, academics, or the oral histories of the specific groups discussed.

6 people found this helpful

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Lloyd E. Elling

October 23, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

My being called white trash clearly led me to cast aside negativity toward others of skin tones different from mine. We are all equal members of humanity. This book confirmed the existence of discrimination based on skin tone and the ignorance and combined need to place one member of humanity over other members of humanity. We are all free to love all members of humanity. Thank you, Nell Irvin Painter!

10 people found this helpful

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Kim Samuel

an exposure of the greatest fools and foolishness

January 25, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The truth in this book is astonishing, an exposure of the greatest fools and foolishness. Nell Irvin Painter's voice is composed from the core, I have the privilege to eat the fruit of much meditation on the history of such arrogant, toxic ideology.

2 people found this helpful

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February 21, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Phenomenal research and engaging reading.

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Milton B. Carter

The most Informative and readable book on race and racial history.

June 21, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book should be required reading for all of America's high school and college students. I will purchase several additional copies as gifts to students in my neighborhood!!

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May 5, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Well-written history of the social construct of race and its impact on throughout our short US history. If you read one book this year... this is the one!

One person found this helpful

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August 19, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I heard so much about this book I swore I would buy copies for my family if it was as good as they as they said. Answer is: it's even better. Buy it now.

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king of chapter one

is frequently funny, and is often poignant

July 24, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Spanning from Ancient Greece to the present, the goal of The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter goal is both simple and impossible: to track the elusive definition of what it means to be a white person -- particularly to be white in America -- and do so in a readable way. In meeting those goals, Painter is remarkably successful. It is informative without being plodding, is frequently funny, and is often poignant. She does gloss over certain periods (as should be expected in a book with such a wide scope), but it rarely feels like lacking.

From the role of art in defining beauty, to measuring skulls, to studies of degenerate families and eugenics, the overall story she tells is of the use of “whiteness” as a marker that has been used to separate “us” from “them.” She takes special care to point out how frequently the definition of “us” – and therefore the definition of whiteness – shifted throughout history. As someone with some Irish roots, I was aware of some of this. No group was as big a mover from “them” to “us” as the Irish, often at the expense of new immigrants as well as those left behind in the “them” group. But seeing each new wave of immigrants working their way through the same obstacles and prejudices, and then inflict those same prejudices on others, was still startling.

Painter also spends a great deal of time on different historical figures and how they influenced our understanding of whiteness. Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Teddy Roosevelt in particular come off poorly.

The lasting impression the book left with me was one of tempered optimism. The final chapter goes into DNA sequencing as the final nail in the “science” of “racial science.” In short, there is very little that divides us biologically. Skin is only skin deep, as it were. But the question remains: as skin color becomes less important as a marker, will we evolve past the fear of “them?” Or will we simply invent new ways to keep “us” divided? We can hope, but the hard work and the real change will come only from striving.

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michael henderson

Three Stars

informative book , but of a biased opinion

Published 20 days ago

Carol DiMarcello

Wonderful book about hand puppets

Wonderful book about hand puppets. Great photos, designs, fun approach for theater puppets. Bought it for my Grand-Daughter.Read more

Published 4 months ago

scott colwes

Five Stars

Published 5 months ago

Megan S.

This was a used or damaged copy of the book.

The book arrived and had several pages folded and crumpled. There is also a section of 20 pages that are larger pages in size than the rest of the book and have years in them.Read more

Published 6 months ago

Allysa

Very cool

I got this for class and I'm planning on reading the rest of it on my own time because it's so interesting! Doesn't look brand new, but it's only marked a little.

Published 7 months ago

Lydia Fortune

Excellent. Most readable account of white supremacist beginnings that ...

Excellent. Most readable account of white supremacist beginnings that evolved into race, class and other labels to separate those who belonged and those who did not.Read more

Published 9 months ago

F R Hammel

Three Stars

Tough read but some fascinating ideas and facts.

Published 10 months ago

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