A DIFFERENT MIRROR A History of Multicultural America

Takaki’s overview of the role of minorities in America’s history—native, immigrant, racial, national, ethnic, and religious—clearly takes their side and sympathizes with their often appalling treatment but saves overt polemic for the conclusion. Peter Berkrot’s narration, fittingly, adopts a tone of mostly understated sympathy. Quotations often suggest an accent or dialect—Hispanic, Southern, Irish, for example—a tactic that adds warmth and color but manages to skirt stereotyping by its subtlety. Berkrot’s voice is a bit astringent but serviceable; his reading well paced, eloquent, and clear; his tone and expression are well matched to the text. Barring a few high-profile mispronunciations (“epi-stemology”), he gives a professional but personable reading of a history more Americans should know. W.M. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2011]