Through research, historical narratives, and storytelling, historian and author Joseph A Amato demonstrates how Americans with mixed ancestry and common origins might produce truly extraordinary family histories as he follows his poor, obscure, and truly ‘mongrel family through seven generations, revealing their place in the key events of America’s past. Using powerful family traditions to clarify his personal connection to the larger stories of our nation, Amato advocates for the power of the history closest at hand in building personal identity and resisting mass culture.