In this eloquent narrative history, Ronald Takaki, the grandson of Japanese immigrants and a professor of Ethnic Studies at Berkeley, tells the richly diverse stories of Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians who have come to the United States during the past century and a half. A listene3r, he allows these immigrants to speak through their songs, poems, and letters, and weaves their voices into the broad context of American History. From Chinese minors sailing through the Golden Gate in 1849 to Vietnamese boat people flying into Los Angeles International Airport, we meet for the first time Americans who have often been perceived as :"strangers" in their own land.