Asian-American Books

Cooley was a staff correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and ABC News and has written widely on the issues (including six other books on the Middle East). Drawing on published and much unpublished works (including his own personal interaction with people like Ben Gurion), he focuses on Iraq as how it was/is impacted by Israel and the US. It is a concise description of the tragic history of ancient Babylon and modern Iraq in the context of meddling and/or occupation by outside powers (from the Ottomans to Britain to Israel and the US). It describes for example, the Zionist manipulation of Iraqi Jews to force them to flee their country. It describes how the CIA "gave Saddam a leg up" (Chapter 6). The detailed discussion of the history goes through the periods of the Iran-Iraq war when the US continued to back Saddam but also made dealings with Iran to keep them killing each other), o the period of the Kuwait episode (some call it gulf war I), Sanctions, and then the latest war on Ira that is still ongoing. The last chapter its titled "Endgame: Iraq democratized or dismembered?" and it deals with a range of issues from the neoconservative (Zionist) cabal in action to dismember Iraq with the help of Israeli intelligence and military support, the sharing of weapons and training, Abu Ghreib nightmare, Israel relationship with Turkey and Kurdish areas, and the alliances that are being built at the expense of native people in Iraq and Palestine.

I grew up in Seattle hearing bits and pieces of the stories of the Japanese Americans who had been rounded up from their homes nearby in the months after Pearl Harbor and sent to inhospitable concentration camps in the interior West, and am always curious for more information. This book, written by a professor of psychology and ethnic studies and a professor of sociology, is, predictably, a scholarly study. This is the first scientific, representative study of the American-born generation who lived through the experience. Time was running out, given the advancing age of the Nisei. So a random study was done in 1997 of 183 current residents of King County, Washington (Seattle) who had been what they call "incarcerated" in the camps. I found this a powerful term to express the injustice of what was done to the Japanese Americans without having to go through diatribes. It got the point across. They chose this location partly because research was already going on, and partly because of the high concentration of Japanese Americans there.

The book follows a chronological order, first describing what prewar life was like, for various age groups, then the act of incarceration, what life was like in the camps, resettlement after the war, and present day life. Two formats are used, first, quotations from the open ended responses people made. These tend to be all too brief; I wanted more. The other is charts and statistics. I've taken statistics classes so am not intimidated by this, but it might feel like a bit much to someone who just wants to know what life was like. But the narrative tells you, and you can let your eyes pass right over the numbers and pay attention to the words.

Among the interesting findings I'll just pick some. Even before the war, a generation gap was looming. The Issei, the immigrant generation, were terribly discriminated against, and thus clustered in "Japantowns." They lived either by farming or in businesses that catered to their own community. Thus, they tended not to learn English. Their children, the Nisei, learned English and American ways in school. They became their parents' interface to the American world. This is probably a universal immigrant experience. But it became even more problematic in the camps, where the structure of life was controlled by the US Army and the parents had little or no control over their children, and the family structure so important to the Japanese started to collapse.

Sixty years later, those who had been the youngest when they entered the camps had the least-negative memories, while those who had been young adults had the worst memories. Young adult women's memories were worse than men's. The book didn't talk about this, but I wondered if it wasn't related to the difficulty of raising young children with minimal resources.

Women who were not married when they entered the camps married two years later, on average, than their age-mates in the population at large--at a time when women were marrying earlier than they had during the depression years. And they had fewer children, spaced farther apart, again at a time when the general birth rate rose.

The Japanese American Issei generation had a low level of education, due to lack of opportunity, and they had high expectations for their children. Their children had high expectations for themselves. Almost half the young men and a quarter of the young women expected to go to college. And they actually exceeded those expectations, though many waited years to fulfill them. The same was true of occupational status. Issei fathers were very limited in the occupations available to them, but their children were ambitious. And as a group, they exceeded their ambitions.

One of the most interesting chapters was on resettlement. It clearly surprised the authors that the incarcerees had so much difficulty reestablishing themselves after the war. Part of this was caused by the government's policy of encouraging them to "spread themselves thin" across the country to be less conspicuous and "more American." Their strong community and church ties were thus destroyed and took years to rebuild in new ways. Before 1945, they were still not allowed to return to the Pacific coast, and some of these people who ended up in the Seattle area moved as many as eight or nine times before landing there. Discrimination made finding jobs very difficult, and many had lost all economic assets.

If you are interested in knowing more on what happened to the Japanese Americans during and after World War II, I would highly recommend this book. If you need to ignore the statistics, do so, but get the gist of the overview of the story. Then look in the long bibliography, or do a Google search, and find one of the many good autobiographies written by someone who lived through it, for an up close and personal view of what it was like. You'll benefit from both vantage points.

Professor Maga once again proves himself the master of the history of US-Japan relations with this study of the planning (on both sides) of what would have been the climactic battle of World War II. His efforts to discuss both the Japanese and American plans uncovers some interesting variations on some commonly held beliefs about the invasion, such as the American estimate of casulties or the Japanese willingness to fight to the end. I don't think his tale of the explosive-laden little clay pots that Japanese children were supposed to offer to American GIs and then use to kill the soldier and themselves will ever leave me.

A fine effort that deserves a place on the shelves of every student of World War II. It provides answers to some important questions that have gone unanswered for too long.

I was honored by having Bob Vitalis teach me a class while I was at the University of Pennsylvania, and was always struck by his engaging ideas and unconventional teaching style. Overcoming several obstacles to actually get the information to write this book in the first place, Vitalis has finally achieved what many would consider an impossible feat: An honest look at the history of the American-Saudi relationship. Here's to the hope that future students of his will be as inspired by his ideas as I was.

Davidson's America's Palestine is an excellent documentation of Anglo-American perceptions of the still today disputed Middle Eastern territories. Various media citations are included, such as the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and the LA Times. Discussion of the State Department's evolving position from neutrality to full fledged support of the Zionist agenda is included. The book is eye opening and gives a good history of how these early Anglo-American perceptions of the Arab-Israeli conflict distorted the realities of the Middle East.

This book offers a unique insight of the Korean War at its worst as seen through the eyes of an Orthodox Jewish Chaplain who shared the travails of the American soldiers at a most desperate time in our history. It is comprised of translations from the Yiddish, as it was published in the Yiddish Daily, The Morgan Journal, out of New York. The book has a fascinating introduction about the Korean War which in abbreviated form sets the stage for a true understanding of the depth, breadth, and tragedy of this conflict. It also gives a heretofore unseen insight into the thoughts and behavior of the Jewish soldier of that time. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the Korean War from "the trenches". Original maps and clear writing make the information come to life.

Although the subtitle implies the book is about the intertwined fates of MacArthur and Hirohito, and there are biographical elements to it, the book is really a comparison between Japan's pre-war and post-war culture and power structures. Essentially this is a narrative history of the internal and external politics than led to Japanese aggression against Russian and China, which led ultimately to Japan's attacks across the rest of Asia and against the United States in December 1941.

The author argues that Japan's internal politics, economic concerns, and the power dynamic of the Emperor, the military, the bureaucracy, and the zaibatsu led to its wars against virtually all of its neighbors. He goes on to argue that after the war, despite MacArthur's best efforts, that same Japanese power structure survived and still exists today. And it's a power structure that believes it was the victim, that its invasions of its neighbors were justified, and that Japan was not militarily defeated but that it had to surrender because the US had nuclear weapons.

Another very interesting point the author makes is the amazing difference in the way the allies treated the Japanese after the war vs. Germany. Aside from a few show trials, there were no major war crimes efforts in Japan. At the same time, while Germany was subject to a rigorous de-Nazification program, the Japanese power structures were left intact.

This is an excellent, easy to read narrative history that puts everything in context. It begins with a brief history of Japan, especially covering the period between the time Japan was forcefully exposed to the world, through to WWII. It then has an overview of the war itself, followed by and interesting analysis of post-war Japan.

If you like WWII, you will want to read this book in order to understand the context of Japan's aggression.

An American Sin depicts the Vietnam War and its long term devastating effects on participants, but the novel is timely and highly relevant today. The streets of Hue in the 1960s could just as well be the streets of Bagdad or Fallujah in 2005. Many of the actions of our troops in Iraq will deeply affect the soldiers involved and the society to which they return for decades to come.

The novel also illustrates many of the difficulties persons of Asian origin have had in striving to fit into American society. The book's protagonist of Chinese American descent, David Wong, laments to his therapist, "We Orientals are forever marked." Despite being third generation in the US, "I always have people ask me where I'm from or if I speak Chinese." Since the Vietnam War era, millions of additional persons of foreign ancestry have come to the United States, and like Wong, they and their children must cope with living here despite differences in physical appearance, ethnic origin, culture, and religion.

In the Vietnam of An American Sin, David Wong commits a terrible act against native civilians, the guilt from which destroys his life for decades. The heinous deed is largely motivated by a desire to show he can be as "American" as any white Caucasian. For anyone who thinks racial discrimination in the United States in the last half the twentieth century was limited only to those of African, American Indian, and Hispanic descent, the book will be an eye opener.

As a novelist myself (India Fortunes), I greatly admire Frederic Su's mastery of words. For example, in describing the high Utah desert, Su writes that "the nude, outstretched limbs of the trees conjured up images of doomed prisoners." Hospitals are places "where the oils of depression, injury, sickness, and death rise to the surface, contaminating the previously pure, uncluttered waters of one's life." In a depiction of a visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., Su says, "And there it stands, the lowslung, black, polished granite embedded like an arrowhead into the heart of a nation."

Even though the novel was written well before the second Iraq War, it's as if Frederick Su anticipated that the United States would again become mired in a mess in an inhospitable foreign land. The parallels, and the tragically unlearned or ignored lessons, are clear.

Everyone should read An American Sin in part for a feel of the terrifying dangers troops face when they're sent into deadly combat situations, not only in rural settings, but also in urban streets. Of David Wong in Vietnam, Su writes,"For a combat infantryman, Death hovered over him in battle closer than any angel ever would." More and more, like the Wong of Su's novel, American soldiers and their allies are fighting in milieus where it is virtually impossible to tell the enemy from friendly civilians, and where it is necessary to make quick decisions involving life and death. These decisions can impact not only whether or not innocent natives of the invaded land live or die, but also the mental health of the occupying soldiers and their families for the rest of the lives. In the book, years after the end of the war, the isolated David Wong, plodding wearily, "wears his loneliness like leg irons."

An American Sin rightly won an IPPY (Independent Publisher Award), as well as being a finalist in other national competitions. The book will deeply affect everyone who reads it, increasing understanding of major issues of race, personal identity, and how wars can cause more problems than they solve.

Wow! It isn't often that I actually feel a little shaken by virtue of what I have read, but if anything can conjure up for one an unforgettable yet eminently non-fictional picture of the modern battlefield in the post-WWII era, then this book by retired U. S. Army historian Peter Kindsvatter does so. What the author offer is literally a phenomenological exploration into the heart of darkness of modern combat, one into which young soldiers have been sucked into the vortex of the experience with wildly inaccurate and romanticized notions regarding their own fallacious expectations of the experience. As the dust jacket appropriately remarks, this is a journey into the hearts and minds of the average soldier, in Korea, Vietnam and since, and shows how popular "John Wayne" colorized fictions set our kids up for a fateful slam into the brick wall of a much more horrible reality. Thus, beginning with such unrealistic ideas of what to expect, Kindsvatter argues quite forcefully that such inaccurate conceptualizations aided the solders in creating what he refers to as a "fictionalized" set of images of war.

Therefore, despite the relatively intensive military training the young recruits received, the author contends nothing could succeed in disabusing them of these fallacious notions or completely prepare them for the horror of actual combat. The nature of that combat, with its extreme emotional stress, physical hardships, and bloodthirsty graphics, spawned a kind of emotional syndrome that the author argues progresses fairly predictably from initial shock and disbelief through a period of confusion toward a perpetual state of much more hyperawareness, a state in which their immediate performance becomes maximal while the effects on their long-term mental health becomes progressively more dangerous. Critical to the success of this progression of this 'pilgrim's progress' from disbelief through confusion and into a battle-weary hyper-vigilance was the camaraderie of their fellow soldiers, their belief systems, and each soldier's individual will to survive. Obviously, Kindsvatter observes, in situations such as Vietnam, where the belief systems came into serious question both within the ranks and in the culture back home, successful maintenance of this state of combat readiness was more and more imperiled.

What the author contends is that once such belief systems are destroyed, few things can repair or sustain them. For some, the excitement of battle turns them into "combat junkies", and it is these guys who may succeed in surviving only to find readjustment to civil society later is extremely hazardous. For the majority, it was integration into the unit and the friendships within it that sustained them, and allowed them to continue under some of the most extreme continuing conditions modern humans can experience. Yet eventually, for most soldiers the ability to function slowly eroded, to the point that many casualties occurred for "burned out" grunts who had more than enough savvy to protect themselves, but who has lost the kind of emotional edge they needed to continue. In these cases, many of them suffered emotional breakdowns and/or total physical exhaustion. This is an important book, and one that anyone with either a friend or relative in the military would do well to read. I hope it gains wider readership, as it is a serious, enlightened, and worthwhile entry into the field of military history. Enjoy!

This book is part of the American War Library's Persian Gulf War series. This book is about the 1990-91 US-Iraq Persian Gulf War. The book begins with a history of the Middle East, includes background information on the Vietnam War (very much in the minds of the American public before the Persian Gulf War), the various leaders involved, weapons used, the tactics of the war itself, and finally a chapter on the aftermath of the war.

This book seriously impressed me with the amount of information that it could fit into such a small package. This book tries to include all relevant information on the war, and it succeeds brilliantly. Coupled with the many black and white pictures used, this is an excellent resource on the war. It is short and succinct, containing anything the student needs to know about the war. I recommend this book for children AND for adults!