 Joseph Campanella narrates the history of Italian immigration to America, beginning with the trickle of Northern Italians in the early 19th Century to the deluge of Southern Italians between the 1880 s and 1920 s. These immigrants not only met with difficulty in the New World because of language differences but also faced discrimination in their own Catholic Church, which was dominated by English-speaking Irish Americans. The new immigrants banded together in isolated communities called "Little Italies." Delegated to manual labor, they struggled to become assimilated into American society and were able to overcome negative stereotyping while producing such outstanding and prominent citizens as A. P. Giannini, Enrico Caruso, Frank Capra, Joe DiMaggio, and Frank Sinatra. Interviews with a dozen prominent Italian-Americans including Geraldine Ferraro and Rudy Guilianni and the great influence of Italian food in gaining acceptance for Italians are highlighted.