Taken as a whole, these sixty-eight (mostly very short) essays, memoirs, petitions, stories and poems yield a vivid picture of a shameful and tragic American episode as experienced by Japanese Americans. Frank Abe's editing takes us through the initial roundup orders, into the daily experience of the camps, and into the controversies over whether or not to serve in the military, and in an amazing episode ("The Emergence of the Headband Group") portrays those who decide their loyalty lies with Japan. Finally the pieces cover resettlement (pretty cursorily), the fight to get the US government to acknowledge its wrongdoing, and later generation voices that wish to ensure this never happens again.

Many readers might stay away because the vicarious experience of such trauma could be depressing. That's definitely a legitimate reaction, but I was more inspired than depressed because of the valiant efforts of the incarcerated to maintain their dignity, agency and voice in the face of this egregious denial of their human rights (an aside: Beverly Gage in her J. Edgar Hoover biography said that Hoover opposed incarceration based on its violation of constitutional rights, but he helped carry it out once the decision was made).

Often an anthology like this is meant to be dipped in and out of, depending on the reader's particular interests. College professors may choose to assign excerpts from the book this way, but I believe the power of this book comes from reading it straight through; at just over 300 pages and with very short chapters that's not a particularly daunting task.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing an electronic copy for early review.

My thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this title, due to be released in May 2024.
And for publishing this important collection.
Over 300 pp of outstanding, and necessary, original source material regarding this blemish on American history.
Required reading as a textbook, but worth a read outside of a class as well.
A strong 5 out of 5.

I already knew this was going to be an emotional read, especially as many were stories that had never been published in English before. I was excited and nervous to begin reading, as this is a part of US history that is often glossed over, where many people would rather remain oblivious to it. I made it to "Those Airplanes Outside Aren't Ours" and then I spent the rest of my time sniffling as I read.

Abe and Cheung did a wonderful job compiling these stories. The organization of them, right up until, "We Have Been Here Before" was executed flawlessly. I could definitely see this becoming required reading in my undergraduate program in East Asian Studies.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc. The above is my honest take on Abe and Cheung's work.

An essential collection. I would recommend this to professors of Asian American Studies in general and Japanese American Studies in particular. It would be valuable for World War II historians and scholars of biography.