• Migrations and Cultures

  • A World View
  • By: Thomas Sowell
  • Narrated by: Robertson Dean
  • Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (225 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Migrations and Cultures  By  cover art

Migrations and Cultures

By: Thomas Sowell
Narrated by: Robertson Dean
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.00

Buy for $25.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Most commentators look at the issue of immigration from the viewpoint of immediate politics. In doing so, they focus on only a piece of the issue and lose touch with the larger picture. Now Thomas Sowell offers a sweeping historical and global look at a large number of migrations over a long period of time. Migrations and Cultures shows the persistence of cultural traits in particular racial and ethnic groups, and the role these groups’ relocations play in redistributing skills, knowledge, and other forms of “human capital.” This book answers the question: What are the effects of disseminating the patterns of the particular set of skills, attitudes, and lifestyles each ethnic group has carried forth—both for the immigrants and for the host countries, in social as well as economic terms?

©1996 Thomas Sowell (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This is a lively and provocative book that is important reading for anyone who thinks we have too many immigrants or too few, who favors affirmative action and multicultural programs or opposes them….Deflates any windbag oratory about the United States being a unique land of opportunity, where migrants succeed by discarding their former culture and leaping naked into the great melting pot.” ( New York Times)
“Interesting insights abound….comprehensive and detailed.” ( Publishers Weekly)
“Thomas Sowell is one of the wonders of the American intellectual world….Not only is this book crammed with detailed research that even experts will find instructive, but it is willing to look unflinchingly at evidence that suggests migration can be bad as well as good—and even that the era of mass migration may be drawing to a close.” (Peter Brimelow, author of Alien Nation: Common Sense about America’s Immigration Disaster)

More from the same

What listeners say about Migrations and Cultures

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    155
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    128
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    133
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good but a dense read

Love the content, but I had to slow it down to absorb it more. takes u on a trip around the world

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read

A combination of incredible writing and research. A very important book now and for future generations.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

food for thought

a very interesting and different perspective that provides a lot of food for thought. Although as an audio book, I thought sometimes keeping all the numbers, percentages and time spans in my mind without being able to easily refer back to them, was a bit challenging. Still, the point comes across and portraits a different picture of migration within historical and cultural contexts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Reads like a B grade first year university essay

I am interested in this area & have studied in it. Essays I've submitted on the topic are more interesting to read than this is. I'm never going to get through it. It's just lists...so far he's not telling me anything new & the delivery is incredibly boring.

Instead go to your local immigration museum or take a course in human geography. Either will be far more satisfying than this book.

Dreadfully dull.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Sowell is a genius

As with all of Sowell’s work, superior work, written well. This reader is excellent as well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thomas Sowell at his best

Thomas Sowell is one of the best economists of our generation- I would highly recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love T sowell!

Dam good book! I love it so much! T Swoell did it again! His breakdown of the Jewish people was my favorite!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye opening informative listening experience

Never realized how extensive and by so many countries and cultures the history of Migration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well-researched, well-presented

It's obvious that the author spent years if not decades compiling the data and thoughts to write this book. The product is an exciting journey through the history of human migration that leaves me with a much deeper understanding of culture and its consequences.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning overview of migration history over time throughout the world.

This book is so pertinent for making informed decisions about integration and understanding our collective heritage, that I am buying copies for all my family members and close friends. Thomas Sowell has meticulously captured the history of the migrations of cultures around the planet and all the repercussions of their settlements and resettlements. I particularly liked his analysis at the end which, after all the explanations about immigration and it's disruptive and constructive forces, he recommends that the focus for the future be on the development of human capital without permanent relocation. Essentially the history of human migration is the history of human suffering and struggle in an attempt for a better life. It is the story of learning, adapting and accumulating knowledge and wealth basically because staying at home was such an unpleasant alternative. If we learn to see those who are different from us as potential sources of friendship and learning, there will be no need to reject them because they are not like us. If countries focus on making life for their citizens fruitful and on creating a climate where citizens can realize their potential instead of having it continuously thwarted, there will be no need to permanently relocate. I highly recommend this book and will certainly be reading many other books by Thomas Sowell.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!