More than forty million Americans claim Irish ancestry. This lively book explains how and why they got to the U.S. and shows how their history made them who they are. From prehistoric Ireland to Irish schools in America, this well-illustrated book provides an essential overview of the ties between the Emerald Isle and the New World.

Thomas McNulty, barely seventeen and having fled the Great Famine, signs up for the U.S. Army in the 1850s. With his brother in arms, John Cole, Thomas fights in the Indian Wars and, ultimately, the Civil War. Orphans of terrible hardships, the men find these days to be vivid and alive, despite the horrors they see and are complicit in.

"...[A] comprehensive look at the 1844 riots that pitted nativist Protestants in Philadelphia against Irish Catholic immigrants. Positioning the riots as a precursor to the Civil War, Schrag details how leaders of the American Republican Party (a forerunner of the Know Nothing Party), including charismatic newspaperman and future U.S. congressman Lewis Levin, fanned the flames of anti-immigrant resentment by alleging that Irish Catholics were a "menace...

"From the National Book Award-winning and best-selling author Timothy Egan comes the epic story of one of the most fascinating and colorful Irishman in nineteenth-century America. The Irish-American story, with all its twists and triumphs, is told through the improbable life of one man. A dashing young orator during the Great Famine of the 1840s, in which a million of his Irish countrymen died, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against...

"A seamless, shining tale." - Nancy Cobb, author of In Lieu of Flowers "Stunning. Little Chapel on the River is beautifully written, artfully crafted and lovingly told." - Stefan Fatsis, author, Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players "Compelling . . . I could not put it down." - Dennis Smith, author, Report from Engine Co. 82, A Song for Mary and Report from Ground Zero "Reading Wendy...