Description
The confinement of some 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, often called the Japanese American internment, has been described as the worst official civil rights violation of modern U. S. history. Drawing on newly discovered material, Greg Robinson reveals for the first time the extent of the American government's surveillance of Japanese communities in the years leading up to war and the construction of what officials termed "concentration camps" for enemy aliens. He also considers the aftermath of confinement, including the place of Japanese Americans in postwar civil rights and redress struggles. Most remarkably, A Tragedy of Democracy is the first book to analyze official policy toward West Coast Japanese Americans within a North American context. Robinson studies confinement on the mainland alongside martial law and the imposition of military tribunals in wartime Hawaii, as well as Canada's confinement of 22,000 ethnic Japanese from British Columbia. Approaching Japanese confinement as a transnational phenomenon, A Tragedy of Democracy offers a kaleidoscopic understanding of its genesis and outcomes. The confinement of some 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, often called the Japanese American internment, has been described as the worst official civil rights violation of modern U. S. history. Drawing on newly discovered material, Greg Robinson reveals for the first time the extent of the American government's surveillance of Japanese communities in the years leading up to war and the construction of what officials termed "concentration camps" for enemy aliens. He also considers the aftermath of confinement, including the place of Japanese Americans in postwar civil rights and redress struggles. Most remarkably, A Tragedy of Democracy is the first book to analyze official policy toward West Coast Japanese Americans within a North American context. Robinson studies confinement on the mainland alongside martial law and the imposition of military tribunals in wartime Hawaii, as well as Canada's confinement of 22,000 ethnic Japanese from British Columbia. Approaching Japanese confinement as a transnational phenomenon, A Tragedy of Democracy offers a kaleidoscopic understanding of its genesis and outcomes.
About the Author
Greg Robinson, a native of New York City, is associate professor of history at l'Universite du Quebec a Montreal and author of By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans. Greg Robinson, a native of New York City, is associate professor of history at l'Universite du Quebec a Montreal and author of By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans.
Reviews
tour de force Nichi Bei Times Robinson deftly merges the Pacific Rim experience into one coherent magnum opus. -- Wayne Maeda Nichi Bei Times A superb history about one of the more shameful chapters in U.S. history. -- Jeff Kingston The Japan Times [A] memorable... revealing book. -- Jonathan Mirsky Times Literary Supplement Robinson has clearly mastered his subject, and this book provides a clear, comprehensive account, including facts both well known and obscure... Highly recommended. Choice Magazine A Tragedy of Democracy serves as a timely reminder of how badly things can get out of control in times of war. -- Rachel Pistol Reviews in History In examining the mistreatment of ethnic Japanese Americans and Canadians as a tragedy of democracy, Greg Robinson has produced a triumph of narrative synthesis, one that will stand as the definitive work of its generation. -- Daryl J. Maeda Journal of American Ethnic History A Tragedy of Democracy is a remarkably well-written, extensively researched, and innovatively reasoned history of internment... One wishes that this important book would appear on the shelves of every Justice Department and military lawyer. Canadian Journal of History
Awards
Winner of Prize in History 2009.
Book Information
ISBN 9780231129237
Author Greg Robinson
Format Paperback
Page Count 408
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press