A Portrait of America

"Portrait of America is solidly grounded in the most recent empirical work on the various topics and is presented in a well-written, accessible style."—Stewart Tolnay, S. Frank Miyamoto Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington and author of The Bottom Rung: African American Family Life on Southern Farms

"In Portrait of America, John Iceland offers a lucid overview of major social changes in American history, with a focus on contemporary patterns of family complexity, widening inequality, increasing ethnic diversity, and improving health. Demographic data are displayed in readable charts to present the foundation of his book, but Iceland explains and interprets the facts with international and temporal comparisons, social theories, and journalistic illustrations. All this makes for an interesting, informative, and compelling read."—Charles Hirschman, Boeing International Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, University of Washington

“I am using A Portrait of America in my undergrad demography class this semester, and plan to continue using it. It is quite good and provides the kind of depth and information about demographic dynamics in the US that I want my students to have. And it is current and up to date. I have 110 students each semester in the class, and I plan to keep using it.”—Dudley L. Poston, Jr., Professor of Sociology and Abell Professor of Liberal Arts, Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University