Orfalea, Gregory. The Arab Americans.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

* Orfalea, Gregory. The Arab Americans. Olive Branch: Interlink. Jan. 2006. c.457p. index. ISBN 1-56656-644-4. $45; pap. ISBN 1-56656-597-9. $20. HIST

Arab Americans have long been an integral part of America's ethnic mosaic. Christopher Columbus's primary translator, a Spanish Arab from Granada (which was under Islamo-Arab control for 600 years until 1492), was probably the first person of Islamic faith to come to America. However, Arabs as an immigrant group didn't begin to arrive to the New World until the mid-19th century, so the last two centuries are naturally the focus of this book. Orfalea (director, writing ctr., Pitzer Coll., CA), himself …