The History of White People

· W. W. Norton & Company
4.5
14 reviews
Ebook
448
Pages

About this ebook

A 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.

Ratings and reviews

4.5
14 reviews
A Google user
March 26, 2010
Emerson aside, it does present a scholoraly look at the history of what is "white", something rarely done in American culture.
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A Google user
August 21, 2011
Thought altering and belief changing account of history that fills in the gaps of our shared past.
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Logan Smith
May 1, 2023
good app
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About the author

Nell Irvin Painter is the award-winning author of many books, including Standing at Armageddon and The History of White People. She is the Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, at Princeton University and lives in East Orange, New Jersey, and the Adirondacks.

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