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sjbshannon's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars. A decent book that explores some of the stories and the overall historical backdrop of immigration to Angel Island. It's more of a survey of the different ethnicities that immigrated through Angel Island and the policies that allowed them to (or didn't) and the circumstances in their home countries. A good beginner book on early-mid 20th century U.S. immigration, and a must read for anyone who says "but my ancestors came here legally!"
adues's review
5.0
This was such an incredible and fluidly written book, that really reveals the history of immigration in the Bay Area.
kathleenitpdx's review
3.0
Angel Island in San Francisco Bay was the main immigrant processing station on the west coast from 1910 to 1940. The authors trace US immigration by following the history of seven groups that came through Angel Island during that time--Chinese, Japanese, South Asian, Korean, Russians and Jews, Mexicans, and Filipinos.
I like history that looks at individual experiences and this book tells the stories of many individuals and families that illuminate the impacts of racism and immigration laws. I thought that the authors used a good plan that looked at the separate streams of immigrants based on their origins. But they often shifted between stories and dropped stories to be picked up later without sufficient transitions to help the reader understand and follow. It took me several chapters to pick up on this pattern.
I would have liked time lines that showed the various groups and the important dates for each group with a line showing the succession and dates for the Angel Island Immigration Commissioners.
This is an important history and it did a very good job of giving me an understanding of US Pacific immigration.
I like history that looks at individual experiences and this book tells the stories of many individuals and families that illuminate the impacts of racism and immigration laws. I thought that the authors used a good plan that looked at the separate streams of immigrants based on their origins. But they often shifted between stories and dropped stories to be picked up later without sufficient transitions to help the reader understand and follow. It took me several chapters to pick up on this pattern.
I would have liked time lines that showed the various groups and the important dates for each group with a line showing the succession and dates for the Angel Island Immigration Commissioners.
This is an important history and it did a very good job of giving me an understanding of US Pacific immigration.
archifydd's review
5.0
Well researched and easy to read. I appreciated that this book looked at all (or almost all) of the immigrant groups that came through Angel Island, rather than focusing only on the Chinese and the exclusion acts (although the authors do spend a significant chunk on Chinese immigration). The chapter about South Asian immigration is particularly enlightening.
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