The History of White PeopleA 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. |
What people are saying - Write a review
User ratings
| 5 stars |
| ||
| 4 stars |
| ||
| 3 stars |
| ||
| 2 stars |
| ||
| 1 star |
|
LibraryThing Review
User Review - stillatim - LibraryThingMy reading experience was DESTROYED by the publicity for this book: from the title, which must have been imposed by an agent or editor, to the silly levels of praise ("mind-expanding and myth ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - xiaomarlo - LibraryThingIt isn't what I expected (I thought it would be a deeper deconstruction of what we perceive to be white, but it's more of an academic historical survey), but I certainly did learn a lot. My favourite ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
according African American ancient Anglo-Saxon anthropologists appeared beauty became Benedict Blumenbach Boas British called Cambridge Carlyle Catholic Celts century Chapter City Civil color continued culture early eastern Emerson England English ethnic eugenics Europe European face figure French George German Grant Greek groups Harvard head human idea identity immigrants intellectual intelligence Irish Italian Italy Jewish Jews John Journal labor language later living look means measurements native natural Negro never North northern notes notion original political poor popular president published race racial remained Ripley Robert Roman Roosevelt Saxon says scholars scientific skin slave slavery social society South southern Staël tests theory Thomas thought tion took Traits turn United University Press Western women York young
Bibliographic information
| Title | The History of White People |
| Author | Nell Irvin Painter |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company, 2011 |
| ISBN | 039307949X, 9780393079494 |
| Length | 448 pages |
| Subjects | › History / Historiography |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |