Arab Americans: A History

Gregory Orfalea's new and definitive work spans a century-and-a-half of the life of Arab immigrants and their descendants in the United States. In The Arab Americans: A History, Orfalea has marshaled over 150 interviews and 25 years of research to tell the story that begins in 1856, when camel driver Hajdi Ali (or Hi Jolly) was hired by Jefferson Davis to cut a "camel trail" across the Southwest, and continues through the 2005 arrest of a former Virginia high school valedictorian accused of plotting with al-Qaeda. Once seen as the "benevolent stranger," as the author points out, today Arab Americans are "the malevolent stranger." His book, however, is an assault on such ignorance, both celebration and warning. The Arab Americans is the culmination of a life's work, a landmark in the history of what it means to be an American.