This book deals with issues in the Gulf of Mexico around Tevas that I did not even know about. One issue is the plight of the Vietnamese fishermen who were being attacked by the long-standing white fisherman, and from the KKK, that somehow none of these people could exist together and that only the white fishermen had the fish right there. This was mainly fishing for shrimp, but people and boats were attacked and destroyed. The other part of the story was how big business especially chemical plants had destroyed the areas surrounding the gulf and had caused cancer that showed up in studies. The author shows how the plants owned by the businesses had gotten away for years with polluting the waters and nothing was done. Instead of taking on the chemical plants the fishermen were led to believe that the Vietnamese fishermen were the problem, nor true. A really good look into how money can get people to look the other way. A good book also in the research and writing by this author.

I first came across the work of Kirk Wallace Johnson when I read his book, The Feather Thief, for one of my local book clubs, and it was a phenomenal story. When I learned that he had written a new book, I was excited to jump right in. Like his other book, Johnson's writing in this book is instantly captivating, and I was quickly enmeshed in the story of the Vietnamese fisherman and their battle to be seen as people rather than pests. It saddens me that this is a part of history, and it makes me wonder what all of the fishermen could have accomplished if they had banded together against the true enemy, the big corporations responsible for polluting their fishing waters.

The Fishermen and the Dragon dives into the racist, polluted history of Texas's Gulf Coast. The book primarily deals with the relationship between Vietnamese refugees and racist white shrimpers/Klan members in the gulf, but it also sheds light on a fight against the chemical plants that have had a stranglehold on the economy there in recent decades. Both stories are intertwined in interesting ways, and the epilogue of the book shows the impact of both on the community in the "Cancer Belt."

Johnson's strength is in crafting a nonfiction narrative that feels not unlike reading a good novel - there are no dry, dense paragraphs to wade through to get a real understanding of the atmosphere or conditions at the time. With nonfiction, I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with the amount of information thrown at me at once, thus slowing down the read. Johnson balances the line perfectly between providing that information while also making the book unputdownable, despite the blatant and at times sickening displays of racism and violence on show. Although the two narrative threads diverge for a while, they are ultimately brought together in a way that demonstrates the long-lasting effect both have had on the community over the decades.

I'll read anything about Texas history that isn't just about licking the boot, and while I was aware of the pollution issues near the gulf, I had no idea about the disgustingly racist history between Klan-allied white fishermen and the Vietnamese community who just wanted to earn a living. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise at this point, but I'm glad that Johnson is shedding light on this story, as I'm sure I'm not the only Texan who was unaware of or too young to have seen this part of our history. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Texas history, Gulf Coast history, or the fight for justice in the South.

Thank you to Viking and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.