Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II

Reeves (Portrait of Camelot) examines the key causes and dire consequences of the Japanese-American internment in relocation camps during WWII, concentrating on a shortsighted military strategy and anti-Japanese sentiment following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The psychological blow delivered by Tojo’s warplanes at the principal U.S. Navy base in Hawaii sent the country reeling and put America on a combat footing, both in the Pacific and domestically. In February 1942, F.D.R. issued Executive Order 9066, which declared parts of the American West military zones and opened the way for the removal of American citizens of Japanese descent to government camps. Reeves provides unsparing criticism about the racist whirlwind of anti- Japanese feeling fanned by the Roosevelt White House, Congress, state and local governments, and leading media figures such as William Randolph Hearst, Walter Lippmann, and Edward R. Murrow. The testimonies of the uprooted Japanese-Americans, many of whom remained patriotic even as they were forced into the camps, are heartbreaking, courageous, and ironic in light of those who fought valiantly alongside American soldiers while their relatives remained locked away. Reeves’s chilling exposé takes a deeper look at one of America’s darkest chapters. Photos. [em](Apr.) [/em]