What is an analysis of A Different Mirror?

There is an excellent analysis of A Different Mirror available —I will link this in the sources at the bottom of this question. 

In brief, though, this is a US history with a unique approach, with the author, Ronald Takaki, choosing to revisit American history from a different point of view. Where much of American history focuses on the idea of the New World as seen by the white Europeans who settled there and...

There is an excellent analysis of A Different Mirror available —I will link this in the sources at the bottom of this question. 

In brief, though, this is a US history with a unique approach, with the author, Ronald Takaki, choosing to revisit American history from a different point of view. Where much of American history focuses on the idea of the New World as seen by the white Europeans who settled there and "shaped" it, Takaki's book tries to break away from the idea that US history should be centered around these white people. Rather, all settlers in the US bring their own history, and their own starting points, to the American story and to American culture.

One of Takaki's primary concerns is that the standard view of American history equates having darker skin with being less "sophisticated," a view which led to Native Americans, black slaves, the Chinese, and other groups being treated harshly and considered savage or inferior. Evidently, this was a prevailing view in the eighteenth century and earlier and did inform American behavior towards these people, but it also, Takaki shows, informs our ongoing view of American history. This is something the book seeks to combat.

Effectively, Takaki's book is a refreshing new answer to the question, "What is an American?" The language used by white settlers in America to describe the indigenous people was similar to that used by the mainland British to describe the Irish—the language of oppression, enabling and justifying violence by depicting these people as deserving of it. Takaki tracks how these similarities play into the treatment of the Irish in America. He also considers how the growing racist ideology in the US affected the experiences of groups who now constitute a significant part of the overall demographic, including Mexicans, Jews, Chinese, and many more. Takaki seeks to explain why every single one of these groups is as thoroughly American, and as much a contributor to the culture as it now stands, as any other.