I strongly recommend this book. It is about time that someone wrote a book about the virtues of the Chinese people living in the western U.S. during the 19th century. Most similar books concentrate on the discrimination and other injustices done to the Chinese workers who worked on the railroads, for example.

"A Chinaman's Chance," however, focuses on the positive Chinese experiences. Did you know that the Chinese had superior eating habits and work ethics? Hidong Sidong was the first Chinese man to lead an asian hiking expedition in the 19th century. Did you know that? Do you know who invented Rocky Mountain oyster stew?

I strongly recommend this book.

Recent scholars have begun to examine the impact of the ethnic experience in the American West unlike ever before. Most have concluded that ethnic immigrants have had little opportunity for advancement in the United States. Professor Zhu counters this arguement with his pathbreaking work, A CHINAMAN'S CHANCE, THE CHINESE ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN MINING FRONTIER. Rather than depicting the Chinese as helpless victims, unable to fend for themselves in a new land, the author demonstrates that not all immigrants allowed themselves to be victims. Using the American legal system, armed opposition, frugal economy, a superior diet, and adaptation to the environment, the Chinese of the Boise Basin, Idaho displayed a resilency hardly matched by European immigrants and even American migrants to the Rocky Mountain West.

This study is a must-read for students of the American West and Frontier and those interested in ethnic history in Victorian American. His research is impeccable, his writing witty, and his commitment to telling a real, even compelling story is unprecedented in ethnic history.

A CHINAMAN'S CHANCE is outstanding history!

A well researched and written book. I used to live in Idaho and heard of a lot of stories about the Chinese experience in the area. But this book gives me new imformation. We do have to pay more attention to positive aspects of ethnic minorities. I enjoy reading this book.