"Crossing Boundaries" – these two words serve not only as the leitmotiv around which the following collection of essays has been organized but also as a metaphor for the life and career of the person who inspired their composition: Georg G. Iggers, whose entire life has been one of crossing boundaries: geographical, racial, and professional. Just as Iggers has done his best as a historian to break down professional and disciplinary boundaries, this volume examines, from different angles, the ways in which Germany and the United States have dealt with the inclusion and exclusion of minorities.

Comparing the respective fates of the Jews in Germany and the African-Americans in the United States, this collection offers new insight as to how and why the struggle for equality played out so differently in the two countries and in what ways the issues of migration, multi-ethnicity, discrimination, and integration have informed the historical discourse in the postmodern era.