Gems traces the experience of the Italian immigrant and illustrates the ways in which sports helped Italian Americans adapt to a new culture, assert pride in an ethnic identity, and even achieve social advancement. Employing historical, sociological, and anthropological studies, Gems explores how sports were instrumental in helping notions of identity evolve from the individual to the community, from the racial to the ethnic. In doing so, Sport and the Shaping of Italian American Identity transcends the study of a particular ethnic group to speak to defining values and characteristics of the American ethos.