Navigating between the shoals of assimilation and acculturation, Dr Collins finds in the Greek community of Houston a group that has been less affected by the host community than sociologists insist happens, and in turn only marginally impressing its ways on the Americans around it. This strong sense of community derives not so much from continued contacts with Greece, but from shared cultural features within the ethnic group itself - language, religion, marriage structures, festivals, etc. These findings support the view of a pluralistic society in America rather than the long prevalent assimilationist view which holds that immigrants automatically mix and lose much of their ethnic identity: the melting-pot theory. This study proposes that Greek-Americans in the society examined are not so much trying to be more American but less Greek in certain respects: e.g., community provincialism and narrowmindedness. The study is supported by illustrations, notes, appendices (including a Greek glossary), bibliography and index.

Though relatively small in number until the latter decades of the nineteenth century, Houston'sHispanic population possesses a rich and varied history that has previously not been readily associated in the popular imagination with Houston. However, in 1989, the first edition of Thomas H. Kreneck’s Del Pueblo vividly captured the depth and breadth of Houston’s Hispanic people, illustrating both the obstacles and the triumphs that characterized this vital community’s rise to prominence during the twentieth century. This new, revised edition of Del Pueblo: A History of Houston’s Hispanic Community updates that vibrant history, incorporating research on trends and changes through the beginning of the new millennium. Especially important in this new edition are Kreneck’s historical contextualization of the 1980s as the “Decade of the Hispanic” and his documentation of other significant developments taking place since the publication of the original edition. Illustrated with seventy-five photographs of significant people, places, and events, this new edition of Del Pueblo: A History of Houston’s Hispanic Community updates the unfolding story of one of the nation’s most influential and dynamic ethnic groups. Students and scholars of Mexican American and Hispanic issues and culture, as well as general readers interested in this important aspect of Houston and regional history, will not want to be without this important book.

A century after the first wave of Hispanic settlement in Houston, the city has come to be known as the "Hispanic mecca of Texas." Arnoldo De León's classic study of Hispanic Houston, now updated to cover recent developments and encompass a decade of additional scholarship, showcases the urban experience for Sunbelt Mexican Americans. De León focuses on the development of the barrios in Texas' largest city from the 1920s to the present. Following the generational model, he explores issues of acculturation and identity formation across political and social eras. This contribution to community studies, urban history, and ethnic studies was originally published in 1989 by the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston. With the Center's cooperation, it is now available again for a new generation of scholars.