Synopses & Reviews
As a nation of immigrants, the American experience is vibrantly defined by the diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious heritage of its people. Perhaps because so many of their ancestors migrated to this country relatively recently, Americans are especially concerned with their family trees, carving out personal histories by combing through documents such as wills and estate records, federal and state censuses, and private family papers, and mining the stories and tales handed down to them by their forebears.
Since 2007, the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has been helping African Americans find long-buried details about their ancestors by researching their family trees and then, when the paper trail ends, by analyzing their DNA and marrying that information to a wealth of historical data. Now, in Faces of America Gates explores the family trees of twelve of America's most recognizable and extraordinary citizens, individuals who learn that they are of Asian, English, French, German, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Jewish, Latino, Native American, Swiss, and Syrian ancestry: Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander, chef Mario Batali, comedian and television personality Stephen Colbert, writer Louise Erdrich, writer Malcolm Gladwell, actress Eva Longoria, cellist Yo Yo Ma, writer and director Mike Nichols, former monarch of Jordan Queen Noor, surgeon and author Dr. Mehmet Oz, actress Meryl Streep, and Olympic gold medalist and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.
In addition, each of the subjects in Faces of America underwent dense genotyping to trace their genetic ancestry on their father's line, their mother's line, and their percentages of European, Asian, Native American, and African ancestry. Faces of America unfolds as a riveting journey into our country's complex ancestral past. Readers will share in the surprise and delight, the shock and sadness of these twelve individuals themselves as Gates unveils their rich family stories, traced back to their arrival on America's shores, and beyond, deep into the history of their ancestors' countries of origin. America, as Gates shows us, is a nation of many historical threads, interwoven and united in the present moment. In this compelling book, Gates demonstrates that where we come from profoundly and fundamentally informs who we are today.
Review
“
Faces of America adds compelling evidence that the American story of race is a far more complicated affair than the conventional wisdom of the past would have us believe. Science, history, and genealogy come together in this accessible, intelligent, and elegant presentation. This is a must read for all who are interested in reconstructing the story of the American people.”
- Annette Gordon-Reed, 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner and 2008 National Book Award winner for The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
Review
“Henry Louis Gates, Jr., takes us on a spellbinding journey into the lives of some of Americas favorite celebrities by excavating historical archives and using the latest advances in genealogy and genetics. A rich tapestry of the nations people, Gatess
Faces of America uncovers the common thread that holds us together while highlighting the differences that make us unique from each other and from one generation to the next.”
- Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Review
“In Faces of America, Henry Louis Gates Jr. has found a middle path: He applies the most rigorous genealogical and genetic tools to the family histories of 12 ethnically distinct Americans, and in doing so touches on the history of not only these individuals but on the human race itself...Gates's breezy, intimate style and obvious affection for his subjects results in a book that is the bionic version of that old fourth-grade family tree assignment, thanks to the support of a world-class Rolodex and Harvard researchers and geneticists. It's fun.”
“There are surprises—[Gates] finds a common ancestor between Queen Noor of Jordan and African-American academic Elizabeth Alexander; both are 37th great-granddaughters of Charlemagne—and in getting such subjects as Mike Nichols to open up about their pasts, he finds how powerfully the past informs the present. Gates offers a book stuffed with epiphanies that will spark curiosity among readers about their own ancestry as well as their possible connections to each other.”
“The complex immigrant story of the United States viewed through extensive genetic and genealogical research into the backgrounds of 12 ethnically diverse, famous Americans.... [I]t is the broader sweep of history and the causes and ramifications of human migrations that engage the reader and give the book its impact.”
“Faces of America adds compelling evidence that the American story of race is a far more complicated affair than the conventional wisdom of the past would have us believe. Science, history, and genealogy come together in this accessible, intelligent, and elegant presentation. This is a must read for all who are interested in reconstructing the story of the American people.”
“Henry Louis Gates, Jr., takes us on a spellbinding journey into the lives of some of America’s favorite celebrities by excavating historical archives and using the latest advances in genealogy and genetics. A rich tapestry of the nation’s people, Gates’s Faces of America uncovers the common thread that holds us together while highlighting the differences that make us unique from each other and from one generation to the next.”
Review
“Anyone who doubts the beauty or role of the lowly tugboat will be pleasantly surprised by this handsome new book...Drawing on a range of historical sources, the author argues convincingly that the towing industry played a crucial role in building New Yorks commercial stature.”
-Armchair Sailor,
Review
“Few books can be all things to all people, but this one is an exception. Much more than just a narrow history aimed at tugboat buffs, it has something for everyone. George Matteson, a veteran towboater, has tackled the history of working vessels and has produced a work that is not only poetic and technical, nostalgic and clearheaded, but perceptive of the human and economic dimensions of working on the water. Since towboating in New York reflects the overall course of American industrial, economic, and maritime history, it is a venture into maritime history itself.”
-Steamboat Bill: Journal of the Steamship Society of America,
Review
“The seductive promise of the fog-drenched images on the dust jacket of Tugboats of New York is more than fulfilled in the comprehensive contents.”
-Sea History,
Review
“Tugboats of New York is one of those rare constructions where everything works just about perfectly.”
-Marine News,
Review
“Matteson, who has worked on tugs for 20 years, defines the blue-collar boats place in the history of America's industrial development and provides anecdotes about life in the harbor.”
-Associated Press,
Synopsis
Explores the family trees and genealogical identity of 12 of America's most extraordinary people
As a nation of immigrants, the American experience is vibrantly defined by the diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious heritage of its people. Perhaps because so many of their ancestors migrated to this country relatively recently, Americans are especially concerned with their family trees, carving out personal histories by combing through documents such as wills and estate records, federal and state censuses, and private family papers, and mining the stories and tales handed down to them by their forebears.
Since 2007, the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has been helping African Americans find long-buried details about their ancestors by researching their family trees and then, when the paper trail ends, by analyzing their DNA and marrying that information to a wealth of historical data. Now, in Faces of America Gates explores the family trees of twelve of America's most recognizable and extraordinary citizens, individuals who learn that they are of Asian, English, French, German, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Jewish, Latino, Native American, Swiss, and Syrian ancestry: Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander, chef Mario Batali, comedian and television personality Stephen Colbert, writer Louise Erdrich, writer Malcolm Gladwell, actress Eva Longoria, cellist Yo Yo Ma, writer and director Mike Nichols, former monarch of Jordan Queen Noor, surgeon and author Dr. Mehmet Oz, actress Meryl Streep, and Olympic gold medalist and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.
In addition, each of the subjects in Faces of America underwent dense genotyping to trace their genetic ancestry on their father's line, their mother's line, and their percentages of European, Asian, Native American, and African ancestry. Faces of America unfolds as a riveting journey into our country's complex ancestral past. Readers will share in the surprise and delight, the shock and sadness of these twelve individuals themselves as Gates unveils their rich family stories, traced back to their arrival on America's shores, and beyond, deep into the history of their ancestors' countries of origin. America, as Gates shows us, is a nation of many historical threads, interwoven and united in the present moment. In this compelling book, Gates demonstrates that where we come from profoundly and fundamentally informs who we are today.
Synopsis
Based on PBS television series Faces of America hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Synopsis
2005 Author of the Year Award
Working Harbor Committee of New York and New Jersey2006 AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show in the category of Trade Illustrated Book Design
Tugboats are the workhorses of the greatest harbor in the world, easing massive ocean liners and garbage scows alike cleanly into their berths. Tugboats of New York captures the history and lore of these iconic craft, from their precursors in the early 1800s to their heyday in the 1950s, when more than 700 small but potent boats dotted the harbor. They are the most versatile of vessels, not only guiding large oceangoing ships safely into harbor, but also conducting rescue operations and navigating vast quantities of oil, cement, and scrap iron through traffic-clogged waters.
A twenty-year veteran of New York tugboats, George Matteson knows the tides and currents of New York from the Bronx to the Verrazano Narrows. His history of tugboating shows how this inherently risky business pits men and their boats against weather, water, and the scarcely measurable physics of ships and barges of far greater dimension.
The story of New Yorks tugs parallels the broader history of New Yorks industrial development, from the rise of railroads to the decline of the port in the wake of labor disputes and large container ships. It is also a story of remarkable seamen who pass their craft from pilot to apprentice over generations, along with the lore of great waterways that remain unchanged despite the lengthening shadows of skyscrapers and commerce.
Rich with first-person anecdotes of life on the New York waterways and one hundred and fifty black-and-white illustrations, including rare and sumptuous photographs from the likes of Gordon Parks and Todd Webb, Tugboats of New York will fascinate readers interested in New York history, boating, and maritime history.
About the Author
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. An influential scholar in the field of African American Studies, he is the author of twelve books and has hosted and produced ten documentaries, including the acclaimed PBS series “African American Lives.” Gates is co-editor, with Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, of the African American National Biography (an eight-volume biographical dictionary), and his recent work has been instrumental in popularizing African American genealogical research and DNA testing. He is the recipient of fifty honorary degrees and many awards, including the MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” and the National Humanities Medal, and was named to Time magazine's “25 Most Influential Americans” list in 1997, and to Ebony magazine's “100 Most Influential Black Americans” list in 2005 and its “Power 150” list in 2009.