Nisei


Book Description




Nisei: the Quiet Americans


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The Quiet Americans


Book Description

From the bestselling author of Lawrence in Arabia—the gripping story of four CIA agents during the early days of the Cold War—and how the United States, at the very pinnacle of its power, managed to permanently damage its moral standing in the world. “Enthralling … captivating reading.” —The New York Times Book Review At the end of World War II, the United States was considered the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But it was clear—to some—that the Soviet Union was already seeking to expand and foment revolution around the world, and the American government’s strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly formed CIA. Chronicling the fascinating lives of four agents, Scott Anderson follows the exploits of four spies: Michael Burke, who organized parachute commandos from an Italian villa; Frank Wisner, an ingenious spymaster who directed actions around the world; Peter Sichel, a German Jew who outwitted the ruthless KGB in Berlin; and Edward Lansdale, a mastermind of psychological warfare in the Far East. But despite their lofty ambitions, time and again their efforts went awry, thwarted by a combination of ham-fisted politicking and ideological rigidity at the highest levels of the government.




Airborne Dreams


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An account of Pan Ams Nisei stewardess program (1955&–1972), through which the airline hired Japanese American (and later other Asian and Asian American) stewardesses, ostensibly for their Asian-language skills.




Heartbeat of Struggle


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Presents the biography of the courageous Asian American activist who, on February 12, 1965, cradled Malcolm X in her arms as he died, although her role as a public servant and activist began much earlier than this pivotal public moment. Simultaneous.




When Can We Go Back to America?


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"An oral history about Japanese internment during World War II, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, from the perspective of children and young people affected"--




Looking After Minidoka


Book Description

A “clear-eyed, carefully researched but nonetheless passionate book” that is “rich with the closely observed details of internment camp life” (Lauren Kessler, author of Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family). During World War II, 110,000 Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and incarcerated by the US government. In Looking After Minidoka, the “internment camp” years become a prism for understanding three generations of Japanese-American life, from immigration to the end of the twentieth century. Nakadate blends history, poetry, rescued memory, and family stories in an American narrative of hope and disappointment, language and education, employment and social standing, prejudice and pain, communal values and personal dreams. “Poetic yet sharply honest, the family story unfolds within the larger context of the national saga. You’ll wince but read it anyway. Your soul will be better for it.” —Nuvo “This book is highly readable and contains fascinating details not usually covered in other books on Japanese-American history.” —Oregon Historical Quarterly




Nisei


Book Description

Hailed at the time of its publication in 1969, Bill Hosokawa's Nisei remains an inspiring account of the original Japanese immigrants and their role in the development of the West. Hosokawa recounts the ordeals faced by the immigrant generation and their American-born offspring, the Nisei; the ill-advised government decisions that led to their uprooting during World War II; how they withstood harsh camp life; and their courageous efforts to prove their loyalty to the United States. As Hosokawa additionally demonstrates, since World War II, Japanese Americans have achieved exceptional social, economic, and political progress. Their efforts led to apologies by four U.S. presidents for wartime injustices and redress through the landmark Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Brought up-to-date in this newly revised edition, Nisei details the transformation of these "quiet Americans" from despised security risks to respected citizens.




East to America


Book Description

Traces the history of Japanese Americans from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.




The Great Betrayal


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"In an ominous departure from American constitutional guarantees 100,000 West Coast American Japanese were evacuated and interned during World War II. Here is the whole shameful story, told in full for the first time. It is a story told largely in the words of the people themselves, about their reactions and experiences in their cataclysmic uprooting that robbed them of their homes, their businesses, their farms, their sense of belonging to a nation that repudiated solely on grounds of racial ties with the enemy, although the overwhelming majority of them had clear records of responsible and loyal citizenship, the young children and elders among them could not possibly have posed a threat to security, and the American-born men were asked to contribute to the very war effort they were assumed to jeopardize. This is the drama of their confinement, of their eventual release and gradual reacceptance by their countrymen, whose hysteria, whipped on by racial hate groups, was sanctioned by the highest tribunal of the land (through decisions which still stand unreversed today). Now, twenty-five years later, 'the apologies have been made, the reparations attempted, the claims settled, and the citizenship of the renunciants restored,' wrote the authors, 'but the evacuation cannot be relegated to a dusty corner of history. As a departure from American principles, it will stand as an aberration and a warning'"--