This oral history presents the Japanese American saga as told by those who lived through it. Frank Chin details the lives of first- and second-generation Japanese Americans before World War II with a kaleidoscope of images drawn from interviews, popular songs, novels and newspaper articles. The heart of his story is the tragedy that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when Japanese American citizens lost their homes and property and were forced into internment camps. The author weaves interviews and testimony from the Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL) with opposing, in-depth conversations with those who resisted the JACL's support for US policy.