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Tara Zahra
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The Great Departure: Mass Migration from Eastern Europe and the Making of the Free World Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition

by Tara Zahra (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 107 ratings
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"Zahra handles this immensely complicated and multidimensional history with remarkable clarity and feeling." —Robert Levgold, Foreign Affairs


Between 1846 and 1940, more than 50 million Europeans moved to the Americas in one of the largest migrations of human history, emptying out villages and irrevocably changing both their new homes and the ones they left behind. With a keen historical perspective on the most consequential social phenomenon of the twentieth century, Tara Zahra shows how the policies that gave shape to this migration provided the precedent for future events such as the Holocaust, the closing of the Iron Curtain, and the tragedies of ethnic cleansing. In the epilogue, she places the current refugee crisis within the longer history of migration.

Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-0393353723
  2. Edition
    Illustrated
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  5. Publication date
    March 21, 2016
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    4355 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this spare, deeply researched, and unfailingly analytical book, Tara Zahra frees the great migration of Eastern Europeans to the West from romantic myth and dissects all its human and moral complexities."
― Robert D. Kaplan, of In Europe’s Shadow: A Journey Through Two Cold Wars in Romania and Beyond

"Erudite and exciting, Zahra’s book recounts how enormous numbers of eastern Europeans migrated to the Americas between the mid-1800s and the second world war. In a work with obvious resonance for our times, Zahra . . . combines analytical depth with an impressive breadth of personal human stories."
― Tony Barber, Financial Times

"Provocative….[Zahra] has uncovered a narrative that is complex, multifaceted."
― Julia M. Klein, Chicago Tribune

"A significant work of social history bound to please serious readers and scholars. "
― Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Zahra handles this immensely complicated and multidimensional history with remarkable clarity and feeling."
― Robert Levgold, Foreign Affairs

"In this riveting book, Tara Zahra takes the story of immigration that Americans know so well and weaves it into a larger story of emigration that we have long neglected. Full of hope and promise, of desperation and tragedy, it is perhaps the most important story of the twentieth century. With all the drama of a novel and all the nuance of history writing at its best, The Great Departure is a must-read."
― Alison Johnson, Harvard University

"[An] absorbing and comprehensive history."
― Library Journal

"A perceptive history of migration and eastern Europe."
― Economist

About the Author

Elizabeth Wiley, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, is a seasoned actor, dialect coach, and theater professor. In addition to her growing portfolio of audiobooks, her voice can be heard in The Idea of America, Colonial Williamsburg's virtual learning curriculum; in Paul Meier's e-textbook Speaking Shakespeare; and modeling US-English on one of the world's top language-learning products.



Tara Zahra is a professor of modern European history at the University of Chicago and a recent winner of the MacArthur Fellowship. She is the author of the award-winning books, Kidnapped Souls and The Lost Children. Zahra lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ZAT8XPA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (March 21, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 21, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4355 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 411 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0393353729
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 107 ratings

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Tara Zahra

Tara Zahra

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
107 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sipaco
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative and pertinent for today
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book is extraordinarily well researched and very well written. Though I bought this book to gain insight into why my ancestors may have emigrated from Eastern Europe, I also received ideas that help to explain the current “migration panic” regarding the U.S. southern border. Highly recommend.
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JH-K
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book is well-researched and well-written, with the exception of the gratuitous final pages.
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B.C. Booth
5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Examination of the Patterns of Emigration from Eastern Europe in the Modern Age
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2016
Verified Purchase
Zahra describes the experiences of Central European emigrants, and the policies of nations that affected those who migrated during the fin de siècle, throughout both World Wars, the Cold War, and beyond. Zahra’s intent is to reveal patterns in emigration and immigration policies among Eastern and Western states. Her book contrasts with other historians, who predominantly focus on the quantities of Europeans migrating to the United States. Instead, Zahra places the focus of The Great Departure on the motivations for Europeans to emigrate, the effects that their leaving had on their homeland, and how European governments attempted to prevent emigration from happening (6).

Zahra reveals a plethora of patterns in emigration policies among European and North American states that emerge in the late nineteenth century and continue to this day. The patterns include ideas on mobility and freedom, state control of emigration as a means to achieve political goals, the influence of mercantilist ideas, using ethnic groups as scapegoats, and the adjustment of policies in order to encourage the immigration of preferred migrants. One of the more interesting patterns is the conflicting view between Eastern and Western powers on what freedom is. To Western states, freedom was inextricably tied to mobility, and was increasingly considered a “human right,” whereas Eastern states “sought to protect the ‘freedom’ of citizens by keeping them at home” (55, 246).

Initially, emigration was seen as a major problem for government. Mercantilist philosophies that valued the population as a source of economic and political power, left governments fearful (9). Attempts, such as the trial of Jewish travel agents in 1889, were made to stop the mass exodus of people (23-24). As it became clear that states could not halt emigration entirely, they began to take a more opportunistic approach by utilizing emigration as a means to serve their goals. Zahra points out that “emigration came to be seen as a potential solution to various social and political problems,” which resulted with several European states developing strategies aimed at encouraging or forcing “undesirable” or “surplus” citizens to leave (10). Some states achieved this through the establishment of penal colonies, while others gave in to rising nationalist trends by attempting to homogenize their population. Ironically, this effort at homogeneity had the side-effect of endowing marginalized communities with increased mobility, and therefore, at least in some sense, increased freedoms (10, 17). In summary, Zahra’s The Great Departure is a masterful examination of the patterns of emigration in the modern age.
22 people found this helpful
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William E. Campbell
3.0 out of 5 stars Limited in scope
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
Very good book and well researched, but potential buyers should be aware this deals almost exclusively with INTRA-European migration. Very little is devoted to migration from Eastern Europe to North America, which is what many buyers might be seeking, and renders the "Making of the Free World" portion of the title somewhat inaccurate. Also, very heavy reliance on the exploitation and human trafficking themes. Although this no doubt frequently occurred, it seems the author was enthralled by this narrative. Displaced persons post-WWII also takes up a large portion of the book, which further narrows its scope.
5 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars The great departure
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2018
Verified Purchase
Very comprehensive book about the reasons behind immigration and the results of leaving ones country of origin. The findings cover over a hundred years to the present. History does indeed repeat itself with no clear answers on how to cope with the world situations that evolve with decisions made by people in power. The story does not have an ending yet and probably never will.
5 people found this helpful
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Jim P.
5.0 out of 5 stars What to do with refugees?
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2019
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I have always wanted to know why my ancestors/grandparents emigrated from Poland ,which did not exist at the time 1880's. This answers some questions . This book details the why countries embraced migration for some while hoping to retain others. When Catherine the Great welcomed in Germans and Poles to Russia as beneficial colonists on her western borders, these same people suffered when nationalism took over.

Europe as a whole benefited when laborers went were the work was, not burdening there homeland when unemployed, but returning with wages to spend at home. The states were in a quandary when it couldn`t meet conscription quotas when it decided to wage war. Then the populace became assets of the states.

Glad they left when they did.
4 people found this helpful
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June
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy reading about the immigrants from 1872 about 1900 I'm ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2016
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Enjoy reading about the immigrants from 1872 about 1900 I'm still reading. My grandfather came from Bohemia in 1882 I find this period of time the most interesting enjoyed the book.
9 people found this helpful
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Michael C. Chisick
5.0 out of 5 stars Important contribution to understanding the huge migration of Eastern Europeans ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2017
Verified Purchase
Important contribution to understanding the huge migration of Eastern Europeans, especially from the Hapsburg Empire, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the reaction of Imperial officials to such migration. Well-researched, well-written, and very informative.. The author is a MacArthur Genius Fellow and this book confirms this was a wise choice.
12 people found this helpful
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