Customer Reviews

Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans

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In the autumn of 1943, the eminently talented photographer Ansel Adams traveled to the Relocation Center at Manzanar, California. This was one of the camps where the United States government relocated (some would say "imprisoned") the many people of Japanese descent who lived in the western, Military Zone 1, so that they could not assist Imperial Japan in its war against the United States. Among the many people sent to this camp were men, women, children and the elderly; immigrants from Japan, the children (born in the U.S.) of Japanese immigrants, and the those even farther removed from Japan; not to mention a decorated veteran of the Spanish-American War (Seaman 1st Class Harry Sumida of the U.S.S. Indiana).

It was here that Ansel Adams set up his camera, and put a human face on this tragedy. This is his book; the pictures he took, and the text he wrote. Originally published in 1944, this newer edition (published in 2001) contains all of the original photos, several additional photos that Mr. Adams took but didn't include in the original, and several fascinating introductions written by Japanese-Americans.

Considering the topic of this book is something of a cause celebre, one might imagine that this book was something of an anti-American screed. Well, if you thought that, you would be wrong. This book is a very balanced look at what happened, and the people who were caught up in it. Mr. Adams wanted the book to be factual, so both the good aspects and bad aspects are covered. That said, though, the book was something of an expose of what happened, and is not a whitewash. Therefore, if you are looking for a book that will tell you about this historical tragedy, then I highly recommend this book.

Finally, I was able to pick up a copy of this long-awaited book. The original is extremely expensive to pick up, and with the additional introductory information, this is an improvement. A fascinating read, fantastic print quality... A must have!

Interesting look at several aspects of the Manzanar Internment Camp located on the East side of the Sierras - the people, the locale - truely amazing.

I have read quite a few books and articles about the unfortuante/sad/?criminal Japanese-American experience during WW II. This book, although it does not add to the historical record per se, includes rich, wonderful pictures from Ansel Adams that bring more visual support to ones' images of how terrible the situation was, but also how strong and resourceful the Japanese-American people were and hopefully still are (just look up the Japanese word "gaman")

Born Free And Equal: The Story Of Loyal Japanese Americans is an impressive combination of historic photographs and writings about the Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned in Manzanar, one of ten such relocation camps, as a result of wartime fears regarding possible sabotage by members of the Japanese and Nisei (American-born men and women of Japanese ancestry) living along the American west coast. During the era of World War II, virtually all the American people of Japanese descent in the states of California, Oregon and Washington (most of them citizens), were interned in relocation camps scattered through the Midwest. Born Free And Equal captures memories of this prison community and how the families in it lived in broad, sweeping, black-and-white photographs. Born Free And Equal is a powerful, highly recommended, historically factual book, accurately capturing with poetic realism a dark and controversial aspect of America's WW II effort, which, along with such horrors as the European Holocaust and the Japanese atrocities in the Far East, must never be forgotten.

ANSEL ADAMS WAS THE BEST. I DRIVE PAST MANZANAR EVERY FEW WEEKS AND, WONDER HOW THEY SURVIVED OUT THERE. A FEELING OF INJUSTICE, OVERWHELMS ME. HOW SAD THAT THE NATION CAME TO THE POINT OF INCARCERATION FOR, BEING OF JAPANESE HERITAGE. I AGREE WITH ABE LINCOLN IN THE LETTER THAT HE WROTE TO JOSHUA SPEED THAT SAYS,"WHEN IT COMES TO THIS, (FREEDOM)I SHALL PREFFER EMIGRATING TO SOME COUNTRY WHERE THEY MAKE NO PRETENSE OF LOVING LIBERTY... WHERE DESPOTISM CAN BE TAKEN PURE, AND WITHOUT THE BASE OF ALLOY OF HIPOCRACY. READ PAGE 9 IN THE BOOK!!!
IT IS A VALUABLE PIECE OF OUR HISTORY. THANK YOU ANSEL ADAMS. HE IS GONE NOW BUT, THIS WILL LIVE ON AS HIS RECORD OF, UNITED STATES HISTORY.

SHIRLEY GREER