Strangers in the Land

Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America

De: Michael Luo

Narrado por: Eric Yang

From New Yorker writer Michael Luo comes a masterful narrative history of the Chinese in America that traces the sorrowful theme of exclusion and documents their more than century-long struggle to belong.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:
THE NEW YORKER, THE WASHINGTON POST, TIME, BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, KIRKUS REVIEWS, LIBRARY JOURNAL

"A story about aspiration and belonging that is as universal as it is profound.”—Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing

"A gift to anyone interested in American history. I couldn't stop turning pages."—Charles Yu, author of Interior Chinatown

Strangers in the Land tells the story of a people who, beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century, migrated by the tens of thousands to a distant land they called Gum Shan­––Gold Mountain. Americans initially welcomed these Chinese arrivals, but, as their numbers grew, horrific episodes of racial terror erupted on the Pacific coast. A prolonged economic downturn that idled legions of white workingmen helped create the conditions for what came next: a series of progressively more onerous federal laws aimed at excluding Chinese laborers from the country, marking the first time the United States barred a people based on their race. In a captivating debut, Michael Luo follows the Chinese from these early years to modern times, as they persisted in the face of bigotry and persecution, revealing anew the complications of our multiracial democracy.

Luo writes of early victims of anti-Asian violence, like Gene Tong, a Los Angeles herbalist who was dragged from his apartment and hanged by a mob during one of the worst mass lynchings in the country’s history; of demagogues like Denis Kearney, a sandlot orator who became the face of the anti-Chinese movement in the late-1870s; of the pioneering activist Wong Chin Foo and other leaders of the Chinese community, who pressed their new homeland to live up to its stated ideals. At the book’s heart is a shameful chapter of American history: the brutal driving out of Chinese residents from towns across the American West. The Chinese became the country’s first undocumented immigrants: hounded, counted, suspected, surveilled.

In 1889, while upholding Chinese exclusion, Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field characterized them as “strangers in the land.” Only in 1965 did America’s gates swing open to people like Luo’s parents, immigrants from Taiwan. Today there are more than twenty-two million people of Asian descent in the United States and yet the “stranger” label, Luo writes, remains. Drawing on archives from across the country and written with a New Yorker writer’s style and sweep, Strangers in the Land is revelatory and unforgettable, an essential American story.

Everyone should read this book

This is such an eye-opening and educational book. It should be taught in high schools all over the US. They need to stop whitewashing
history

Do not pass this up

First of all I want to complement the narrator. He spoke in an even gone and did not rush. Pleasant to listen to.
I was aware of the hardships the USA put the Chinese through trying to make a better life. They need more credit for their sacrifices working on building our railways and mines. This story takes you through their trial and tribulations in an easy explainable manner. Many sad moments. I enjoyed the book.

Important to understand the past so we don’t repeat its mistakes

Well researched and written account of what led to and the events during Chinese Exclusion period in America. For a country that prides itself as a beacon of light, this was one of the darker chapters in its history. We’re on the verge of repeating it as the anti-China sentiment that prevails politics today is clearly bipartisan. We can do better.

Refreshing!

As someone of African American descent, with little knowledge of Chinese history here in America. This has been a wonderful lesson in a painful past with an even brighter future!

Great History!!

Excellent stories and battles to succeed! Makes me appreciate all the conveniences of 2025 life !!