<DIV>By focusing on patterns of immigration and acculturation in a small industrial city in the northeastern United States, Mark Paul Richard offers a noteworthy look at the ways in which French-Canadians negotiated their identity in the United States and provides new insights into the ways in which immigrants "Americanize."<br>      Richard's work challenges prevailing notions of "assimilation." As he shows, “acculturation” better describes the roundabout process by which some ethnic groups join their host society. He argues that, for more than a century, the French- Canadians in Lewiston, Maine, pursued the twin objectives of ethnic preservation and acculturation. These were not separate goals but rather intertwined processes. Underscored with statistics compiled by the author, <I>Loyal but French </I>portrays the French-Canadian history of Lewiston, from the 1880s through the 1990s, in this light.</div><div>    With a wealth of data, the insights of a professional historian, and the sensitivity of a "local," Richard offers a new conceptualization of ways that immigrants become "Americans."</div>