Between 1881 and 1914, more than two million Jews came to America. Most were poor, from the stultifying shtetls of the Pale of Settlements of the Russian Empire, steeped in Jewish tradition and religion, and Yiddish-speaking. In New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago they formed overcrowded Jewish ghettoes, living in cramped walk-up apartments and finding low-pay work in the clothing sweatshops or tobacco and cigarette factories.

The children of the American Jewish ghetto had higher aspirations. From neighborhood elementary schools, the most academically gifted kids gained admission to elite high schools and acceptance into the nation's leading universities. Combining original thought with hard work, many reached the top levels in their chosen fields: in the sciences, the arts, academia, entertainment, Hollywood and in business. Despite anti-Semitism, more than 40 of them went on to become Nobel laureates, and many others were Pulitzer, Academy, Emmy and Tony award winners. This book shares the stories of many American-educated children of Jewish immigrants who emerged from American Jewish ghettoes.