| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 92.4

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 92.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Race, Nation, and Religion in the Americas. Ed. by Henry Goldschmidt and Elizabeth McAlister. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. xiv, 338 pp. Cloth, $74.00, ISBN 0-19-514918-1. Paper, $24.95, ISBN 0-19-514919-X.)

The essays contained in Race, Nation, and Religion in the Americas poignantly address the ways in which historians have often failed to acknowledge the role that religion plays in "the construction of collective identity, difference, and hierarchy" (p. 5). This is especially the case in the shaping of racial and national identities in the service of European colonialism and empire building throughout the Americas. One of many strengths of this edited volume is the juxtaposition of various historical periods and places, such as Haiti, Brazil, and the United States, as a means of exploring commonalities and differences in regard to race, nation, and religion. Equally important is a beginning attempt to deal with the Americas as a whole that not only brings into question notions of American exceptionalism but also shows how the invasion of the Americas is an experiential point of demarcation for all of the peoples of the Americas, both past and present. Furthermore, this collection of essays extends the boundaries of our understanding as to the complexity of race as a day-to-day reality.

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