The true story of the Italian immigrant is rarely told in American culture. Here in the United States, the history of Italians who have given so much to the world through science, architecture and the arts have been largely reduced to a carnival-like caricature of spaghetti, meatballs and the mafia.
It is rare that you see the struggle of Italians and all that they sacrificed to survive. Today, tourists go to Italy and wonder aloud how anyone could have ever left. The Italy of today is a stark contrast to its post-WWII past, when food was scarce, bridges, roads and railways were heavily damaged and there were very few prospects for work.
