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Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II Kindle Edition

by Roger Daniels (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 86 ratings
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Well established on college reading lists, Prisoners Without Trial presents a concise introduction to a shameful chapter in American history: the incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. With a new preface, a new epilogue, and expanded recommended readings, Roger Daniels’s updated edition examines a tragic event in our nation’s past and thoughtfully asks if it could happen again.

“[A] concise, deft introduction to a shameful chapter in American history: the incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II.” — Publishers Weekly

“More proof that good things can come in small packages... [Daniels] tackle[s] historical issues whose consequences reverberate today. Not only [does he] offer cogent overviews of [the] issues, but [he] is willing to climb out on a critical limb... for instance, writing about the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WW II... ‘this book has tried to explain how and why the outrage happened. That is the role of the historian and his book, which is to analyze the past. But this historian feels that analyzing the past is not always enough’ — and so he takes on the question of ‘could it happen again?’ and concludes that there’s ‘an American propensity to react against “foreigners” in the United States during times of external crisis, especially when those “foreigners” have dark skins,’ and that Japanese-Americans, at least, ‘would argue that what has happened before can surely happen again.’” — Kirkus Reviews

“An outstanding resource that provides a clear and concise history of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.” — Alice Yang Murray, University of California, Santa Cruz

“Especially in light of the events following September 11, 2001, Roger Daniels has done us a great favor. In a slender book, he tells, with the assurance of a master narrator, an immense story we — all of us — ignore at the peril of our freedoms.” — Gary Y. Okihiro, Columbia University

“No book could be more timely. How, as a different immigrant minority is under racial pressure associated with a feared enemy, the updated Prisoners Without Trial helps us see clearly what lessons we may draw from the past.” — Paul Spickard, author of Japanese Americans

“In the epilogue to the first edition of Prisoners without Trial, Roger Daniels thoughtfully asked, ‘Could it happen again?’ Today, in post-9/11 America, that question has an answer: It can and it has. Daniels addresses these issues in a revised edition of this classic, and he finds the U.S. government perilously close to repeating with the Arab American population mistakes it made with the Japanese Americans.” — Johanna Miller Lewis, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
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  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    May 16, 2017
  5. File size
    9059 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a succinct synthesis of the latest scholarship on Japanese American relocation during the Second World War, interpreted by the leading historian of the subject. Daniels's account is broadly conceived, yet briefly executed. It is exciting to read, and shocking." --Robert Allen Skotheim, president, The Huntington

"Distilled from three decades of meticulous research and nuanced reflection by the foremost expert in Japanese American history. This is the most succinct and masterful synthesis available of the ordeal Japanese Americans suffered during World War II." --Sucheng Chan, University of California at Santa Barbara

"The arbitrary internment of Japanese Americans was one of the most shameful episodes of our history. And nobody knows the subject better than Roger Daniels. He writes with authority and clarity. His book should be read by everyone concerned with our civil liberties." --Stanley Karnow

About the Author

Roger Daniels, the author of Guarding the Golden Door, is a renowned expert on Asian American and immigration history, was a consultant to the commission that recommended redress, and has served on the History Advisory Board for the Ellis Island Immigration Museum since its inception.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B072355XPK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Plunkett Lake Press (May 16, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 16, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 9059 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 86 ratings

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Roger Daniels

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
86 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars That our Government needs to be watched.
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2021
Verified Purchase
I feel very strongly that every "American" at least read one of the books on this topic. Given how little has been know about what our Government did back in 1941-2 &3 it's time for all to become aware. What they did , if we don't watch them, they can do again to a different group, maybe yours, think about. At this time I have purchased and read 10 books about this subject and plan too continue read every book available.
Uncle Marine
2 people found this helpful
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Erica
5.0 out of 5 stars Needed for class but super good book
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
Like I said in the title, I had to buy this for a college class I was taking, but I totally ended up really enjoying it, and nobody enjoys required reading
One person found this helpful
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JUDY MASON
4.0 out of 5 stars History Never To Be Forgotten
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
Having read several accounts of Japanese internment, I was familiar with the degradation imposed upon their race. However, I was not knowledgeable of the political manuvering behind it. The question of "Could it Happen Again" is still a very relevant question today. It doesn't take much to make a stampede into mob thinking. This look into history can be an awakening to many people and a part of history still taught today because of that question.
2 people found this helpful
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smboltz
5.0 out of 5 stars Prisoners Without Trail
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2012
Verified Purchase
This was a very interesting book about the American Japanese and them being placed in a consentration camp after the bombing of pear harbor. It talks about the way they were treated and the conditions that they were forced to live in.
2 people found this helpful
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FTLOE
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2012
Verified Purchase
This book gave insight into a part of history I knew NOTHING about! The imprisonment of Japanese citizens during WWII is absolutely horrednous and another blemish on this country!
2 people found this helpful
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Richard H. Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars This is the book that sets the pace!
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2015
Verified Purchase
Factual, concise, well written, authoritative and highs all the critical issues with accuracy and balance
One person found this helpful
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Dennis Copenhaver
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great book. Everyone should know of this injustice done to these American citizens.
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Nabil
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2016
Verified Purchase
Excellent book, to the point and facts are all there!
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Larissa
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on September 11, 2015
Verified Purchase
A very important book about an important time in America's history. Daniels knows his stuff.
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G. B
5.0 out of 5 stars Concise, engaging, scholarly.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2010
Verified Purchase
This book is a good account of the treatment of Japanese and Japanese-American citizens at the hands of Roosevelt's administration. I used this book for a course I did at university, which dealt with Japanese-American internment during WWII, and found it very helpful. It is not very long, but gives a good overview of this shameful chapter of American history, linking it to the detentions without trial which now occur during the War on Terror.

Its conclusion can be summed up thusly:
'The Constitution was treated as a scrap of paper not only by [Asst. Sec. of War] McCloy, [Sec. of War] Stimson, and [President F.D.] Roosevelt but also by the entire Congress, which approved and implemented everything done to the Japanese American, and by the Supreme Court of the United States'. (p47)
2 people found this helpful
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