In 1951, Handlin began his Pulitzer Prize-winning volume, The Uprooted, by centering the role of immigration in the history of the United States: “Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history.”1 Kane now makes an equally bold claim in The Immigrant Superpower, contending that the greatness and prosperity characterizing the American past and present are the products of immigration more than of any other factors.
The subtitle of Kane’s volume was chosen with far more than alliteration in mind. In Kane’s view, newcomers’ “brawn” yielded economic dividends derived from their labor. Their “bravery” translated into patriotism and contributed to the military strength and security of the United States, and their “brains” fueled the innovation that has made the United States a model for every nation aspiring to world leadership.
Kane’s book is a history but...