Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America

A pathbreaking work by one of the leading scholars in the field, Iron Cages provides a unique comparative analysis of white attitudes toward Asians, Blacks, Mexicans, and Native Americans in the nineteenth century, offering a cohesive study of the foundations of race and culture in America. With a new epilogue that assesses the prospect for race relations in contemporary American society, Iron Cages is important reading for anyone interested in the history of race relations in America. In his provocative new epilogue, "The Fourth Iron Cage," Takaki focuses on race in contemporary society within the context of America's nuclear arms-oriented ceconomy. He compares the Asian-American "model minority" and the black underclass, and extends his analysis to Native Americans, Chicanos, and Puerto Ricans.