"This book offers a fresh look at the Germans--the largest and perhaps the most diverse foreign-language group in 19th century America. Drawing upon the latest findings from both sides of the Atlantic, emphasizing history from the bottom up and drawing heavily upon examples from immigrant letters, this work presents a number of surprising new insights. Particular attention is given to the German-American institutional network, which because of the...

"Behind each door of each small place in this collection of ten short stories, people tend to their duties to keep a small town humming. The Winter Bees introduces seemingly mundane lives lived in a rural Minnesota town and reveals journeys of personal discovery, meaning, love, and hope. Ana, the bartender, hosts Christmas parties for children and raises money for charity, all the while storing memories of her lonely past. Bachelor Hermann, who pines...