An Unlikely Union: The Love-Hate Story of New York's Irish and Italians Contributor(s): Moses, Paul (Author) |
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ISBN: 1479804150 ISBN-13: 9781479804153 Publisher: New York University Press OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2017 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic (dc, De, Md, Nj, Ny, Pa) - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - General - History | Social History |
Dewey: 973.045 |
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.9" W x 9" (1.10 lbs) 368 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Ethnic Orientation - Irish - Ethnic Orientation - Italian - Geographic Orientation - New York - Locality - New York, N.Y. - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: An Unlikely Union tells the dramatic story of how two of America's largest ethnic groups learned to love and laugh with each other after decades of animosity. They came from the poorest parts of Ireland and Italy and met as rivals on the sidewalks of New York. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the Irish and Italians clashed in the Catholic Church, on the waterfront, at construction sites, and in the streets. Then they made peace through romance, marrying each other on a large scale in the years after World War II. The vibrant cast of characters features saints such as Mother Frances X. Cabrini, who stood up to the Irish American archbishop of New York when he tried to send her back to Italy, and sinners like Al Capone, who left his Irish wife home the night he shot it out with Brooklyn's Irish mob. The book also highlights the torrid love affair between radical labor organizers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Carlo Tresca; the alliance between Italian American gangster Paul Kelly and Tammany's "Big Tim" Sullivan; heroic detective Joseph Petrosino's struggle to be accepted in the Irish-run NYPD; and the competition between Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby to become the country's top male vocalist. In this engaging history of the Irish and Italians, veteran New York City journalist and professor Paul Moses offers a classic American story of competition, cooperation, and resilience. At a time of renewed fear of immigrants, An Unlikely Union reminds us that Americans are able to absorb tremendous social change and conflict--and come out the better for it. |
Contributor Bio(s): Moses, Paul: - Paul Moses is Professor of Journalism at Brooklyn College/CUNY and former city editor of Newsday, where he was the lead writer for a team that won the Pulitzer Prize.His book The Saint and the Sultan won the 2010 Catholic Press Association award for best history book. |