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General Non-Fiction | Christopher Columbus
** This list is only an introduction. For more detailed bibliographies on Italian American history and sociology, visit the American Italian Historical Association.
Blood of My Blood. Gambino, Richard. New York: Anchor Books, 1975. Landmark study on what it means to be Italian American.
The Children of Columbus. Amfitheatrof, Erik. Boston: Little Brown, 1973. 360-page study, intelligently written study on what Italian immigrants found in "la Merica."
The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society. Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur M. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992.
Four Centuries of Italian American History. Schiavo, Giovanni. 328-page history of Italians in America from Christopher Columbus through WWII. (Available through Center for Migration Studies)
The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia. LaGumina, Salvatore J., and Frank J. Cavaioli, Salvatore Primeggia, Joseph Varacalli, eds. New York: Garland, 1999.
The Italian Americans. Iorizzo, Luciano J., and Mondello, Salvatore. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1980.
Italians in America: A Celebration. Talese, Gay, ed. An illustrated history of Italian Americans that begins with the 15th century explorers, and traces the Italians in America from the American Revolution to the present day. Coffee-table book with more than 200 historic photographs.
La Storia. Mangione, Jerre and Ben Morreale. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. 500-page study of Italians in U.S.; excellent and comprehensive bibliography.
Prisoners Among Us (video) chronicles the assimilation of Italians into American culture. During World War II paranoia in this country ran the gamut from street-side prejudice to formal declarations of war upon non-citizen Italians. As a result, a story behind the story unfolds. Tony Lo Bianco, spokesperson for OSIA, narrates this feature length documentary with commentary by Tom Brokaw of NBC News and Mary Ann Esposito, host of "Ciao Italia."
Available to OSIA members at a 10% discount. For details and promotion code call 202.547.2900 or login to the Members Only section.
Unto the Sons. Talese, Gay, ed. Knopf, 1982. A comprehensive history of the conditions that prompted the author's family, along with millions of other Italians to emigrate to America as well as a personal memoir of what it meant to grow up Italian in America.
The Uprooted. Handlin, Oscar. Boston: Little Brown, 1951. Seminal work on immigration history in U.S.
WOP! A Documentary History of Anti-Italian Discrimination. LaGumina, Salvatore J. Toronto: Guernica, 1999.
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Activists like this one at a recent Columbus Day Parade in Chicago blame Columbus for actions that happened long after his death in 1506.
Italian Americans like these in Denver, Colorado, celebrate their heritage on Columbus Day with parades and festivals.
The Columbus Coat of Arms. The castle and lion symbolize the Spanish cities Castille and Leòn; the third quadrant represents the islands he discovered while the five anchors are his family crest.
Columbus was long considered a hero by Americans. In this 19th century painting he is pictured (third from left) with Lincoln, Washington and other American leaders.
The Landing of Columbus by the early American artist John Van der Lyn (1846). This painting, which hangs in the U.S. Capitol, was the subject of an 1892 U.S. postage stamp commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus' first voyage to the Americas.