John Doe Chinaman: The Forgotten History of Chinese Life Under American Racial Law, Lew-Williams, B

         When the Chinese came to America, they “endured a racial regime every day. This book is the story of that regime and the lives it touched.” They arrived in the 1850s, and the western states regulated “their ability to work, operate a business, own property, testify in court, seek education, and form families.”

          Chinese laborers—whether miners or workers in lumbering or agriculture—were subjected to violence and taxed because of their race. When over 20,000 arrived in 1852, the California legislature implemented the miner’s tax. Over fifteen years, the state collected $5 million, 99% of it paid by Chinese laborers. Many, however, realized that the tax “provided a path to conditional inclusion.”

         This Bancroft Award–winning academic history is structured so that each chapter focuses on one aspect of Chinese immigrants and the pushback from whites. Thus, the chapters on aliens and predators focus on laws targeting non-white foreigners and those vigorously opposing interracial intimacy.

          In the 1880s, a major effort was made by the Pacific Coast states to expel the Chinese. The federal government promised laws at the border, but vigilante justice “dislocated tens of thousands.” “The anti-Chinese expulsions that swept the West from 1885 to 1887 ushered in a new period of racial retrenchment.” Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1888 (not repealed until 1943), banning all laborers from entering. Local authorities initiated segregation but confronted constitutional roadblocks. Individuals committed consistent violence to keep Chinese communities out and often turned to arson. Oftentimes, entire neighborhoods were torn down under public health pretexts. Courts approved of “separate but equal” public schools. However, “whether they liked it or not, both lawmakers and the public had come to rely on Chinese workers, traders, consumers, manufacturers, businesses, and taxpayers.”

          Early in the 20th century, “exclusion laws gave federal officials broad authority over Chinese migrants, power that state and local officials lacked.” Chinese arrivals were required to pass through Angel Island, the West Coast equivalent of Ellis Island. The threat of refusal of entry and the risk of deportation were part of everyone’s experience. The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 destroyed the city’s birth records, leading to endless claims of U.S. citizenship, as an 1898 Supreme Court case confirmed that birthright citizenship applied to the Chinese. Because for decades white America paid little heed to the proper spelling of Chinese names, many slipped into an in-between space where they were allowed to stay but not exercise all of their rights. They lived in fear of government bureaucrats. Such insecurities affected every aspect of life. “By rendering the Chinese as perpetually precarious, exclusion restricted economic mobility, restrained Chinese political power, devalued Chinese lives and culture, and separated Chinese from white communities.”

         The prohibition of Chinese immigration was extended to the Japanese, Koreans, and other Asians. “The Chinese continued to live under specific economic, political, cultural, and spatial restraints.” Matters changed slowly over time, and it was not until the 1965 immigration law that all restraints on Asians were lifted. Today, there are 24 million Asian Americans in the United States. It should be noted that this law was pioneered by Jewish Congressman Emmanuel Celler, who served in Congress for 50 years and had seen the 1920s restrictive laws implemented. Although prejudice and tribalism still exist in America, Chinese Americans are free to pursue the American dream and have been quite successful in that effort.

         I am very familiar with the history of immigration on the East Coast, particularly the plight of the Irish, Italians, and Jews who came to America in the 19th century. They were all treated badly because of their foreign languages and non-Protestant religions. But compared to the Chinese, they were welcomed with open arms. This story is not surprising, but it is shocking in its severity. 

Predicament, Boyd - B+

          Gabriel Dax, a travel writer and occasional agent for MI6, is sent to Nicaragua in the spring of 1963. His task is to interview a leftist politician who may become the country’s next president. The meeting is arranged, but Dax is blindfolded and driven for hours to reach Tiago—who then refuses to speak with him. The next day, Tiago is assassinated and a military coup takes power.  Dax heads to New York to continue research for his book, only to be stabbed and hospitalized. Back in England, MI6 sends him to Berlin to 'bump into' a dangerous figure he previously encountered in Guatemala—now believed to be planning an attack on JFK during an upcoming visit. Working alongside the CIA, Dax conducts surveillance and confirms that an assassination is indeed in the works. On the day of JFK’s 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech, he spots the would-be assassin and alerts the local police. Then, noticing an open window above, he intervenes in time to stop a second gunman.

        Hints of police complicity, as well as possible Mafia and CIA involvement, linger in the background—alongside the specter of a lone gunman—matters that weigh on Gabriel’s mind on the 22nd of November.  Excellent.

Downfall, Rotenberg - B+

          A homeless man is found found dead by the river. On a cold, dark morning two days later, a Somali immigrant bicycling to work is clipped by a truck, falls down a hill, and lands on top of a dead homeless woman. Ari Greene is back on the Toronto PD, and he and Daniel Kennicott have the case. They begin their investigation. Then there is a third homeless victim. This woman had once been a famous lawyer—beloved and admired—married to a city councilman and the mother of an eleven-year-old daughter before turning to the streets. As they dig deeper, the detectives learn a great deal about homelessness in their city, including the fact that a great many people profit from it, in particular the drug companies that sell the drugs to the city that keep many people tranquil, if not sedated. The obvious possibilities fall by the wayside when they arrest the most unlikely suspect. A tour de force.

Blood And Treasure: The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to the Modern Era, Weldon - B-

       The intent of this book is to “show both how economics can help understand war and how understanding war can help explain modern economics.” As I do not believe the author achieved his stated goal, I have posted only brief comments on some of his better examples.

       The Vikings were superb raiders, but later became conquerors and occupiers. The “Danegeld” tribute in East England and the taxes collected in Normandy were reinvested locally, establishing them as “excellent state builders.”

        A strong case may be made “that Genghis Khan’s economic legacy dwarfs that of almost any other individual.” His Mongols conquered from China to Hungary, and a century later his heirs extended their reach to Iran and the Baltics. Khan established a true meritocracy, and they saw fit to share all of the booty extracted from conquered tribes. They standardized money, weights, and measures, and provided a primitive safety net in hard times. The Pax Mongolia was the first era of globalization. The Khan showed the Europeans the advantages of opening up and trading far and wide. But the devastation wreaked in China made them wary of outsiders.

         Both the longbow and the inexpensive crossbow changed the face of European warfare around the millennium. The longbow had an extraordinary rate of fire and propelled England to victory after victory. England succeeded where others did not because of a “state-driven agenda to create a culture of archery.” England’s throne was more stable than Scotland’s or France’s, affording the monarchy the chance to employ a more democratic weapon, as they feared uprisings less than their enemies.

          During the Renaissance, soldier of fortune Federico de Montefeltro made so much money that he “assembled the most comprehensive library outside the Vatican and paid for Raphael’s training.” He was not alone, and the warriors of the era “helped fund the flowering of knowledge which transformed medieval Italy into Renaissance Italy.”

         Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War was achieved in battle, yet ably assisted by the Bank of England. It was achieved as much through financial strength as raw military power. Although France’s population was over twice Britain’s, the British commanded more wealth because they were more industrialized and incredibly more efficient at collecting taxes. The creation of the Bank of England meant that Britain could also borrow money responsibly. It was a modern state which simply functioned better than its competitors.

          When the southern, states’ rights, debtor-friendly states seceded in 1861, it gave the North the chance to strengthen federal government borrowing, which is what occurred when the United States passed the Legal Tender Act. “The modern US dollar was created by the pressures of the American Civil War.”

        World War II saw the introduction of total war, making the tasks of domestic administrators as important as those fighting overseas. In the UK and the US, the ability to outmanage and outproduce the Axis is what led to eventual triumph.

Heart Of The City, Rotenberg - B

           After the stress of being indicted and acquitted, Ari Greene left Toronto and went to London for a year. A barrister there got in touch to tell him that he had a twenty-year-old daughter from a long-ago relationship with a woman who had just passed away. He welcomes Alison into his life and they fly to Toronto.

           In his new job as a construction worker, he stumbles across the body of a noted and despised condo developer and calls 911. Soon he is face to face with the Toronto PD again. He is also helping the lawyer who defended him without charge, and believes that the lawyer’s client—who is the police’s number one suspect—is actually innocent. He begins to look into the case himself. As he and the police focus on different likely suspects, the construction manager is found murdered in exactly the same manner as his boss. Ironically, Alison helps Ari and the police solve the case. This one is simply not as good as the others in the series.

Lawrence In Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly And The Making Of The Modern Middle East, Anderson - B, Inc.

        In 1914, a handful of Orientalists were traveling through the southwestern reaches of the fading Ottoman Empire, seemingly engaged in innocuous pursuits. They were not. An American, William Yale, claiming to be on a grand tour, was actually scouting for oil on behalf of the Standard Oil Company of New York. A German, Curt Prüfer, supposedly updating a Baedeker’s guide, noted British outposts along the Nile while cruising south. Aaron Aaronsohn, a Jewish agronomist, was planting the seeds of Zionism, and Thomas Lawrence of the Palestine Exploration Fund was quietly preparing for war on behalf of the United Kingdom. The Ottomans were on the cusp of a decision that would “bring on their own doom and unleash forces of such massive disintegration that the world is still dealing with the repercussions a century later.”

         Lawrence grew up in Oxford, read history at Jesus College, and toured Syria while researching his thesis. Yale applied to Socony’s foreign service upon completing college. Prüfer came of age in a newly unified Germany where Wilhelm II encouraged what some have called “a toxic nationalist mythology.” His remarkable ability to pick up languages, including both Turkish and Arabic, led to work at the German embassy in Cairo. By his twenties, Aaronsohn was a renowned agronomist who sought to demonstrate that Palestine could support a far larger population, as it had in the past, than it did in the early twentieth century.

         When the Ottoman Empire joined the war, Lawrence was sent to Cairo to join a military intelligence unit, where he began to argue for the advantages of encouraging an Arab revolt. For Aaronsohn and Palestine’s Jews, Muslim hostility, Turkish looting, and deportations threatened their very existence. Major Prüfer was assigned to work with the Turks on an assault on the Suez Canal. The Germans and Turks successfully crossed the 120-mile-wide Sinai and, in January, reached positions only a few miles from the canal. The British repelled them by moving warships into the waterway.

          During a major locust infestation, Aaronsohn traveled the length and breadth of Syria and Palestine and came to two conclusions: there was no future for Jews under Arab sovereignty, and the region was largely undefended. He sent his brother to speak with the British in Egypt. At about the same time, Yale achieved an important goal for Socony—obtaining drilling concessions in Arabia. Throughout 1915, both sides tried to secure the support of Emir Hussein, the guardian of Mecca and Medina. Britain prevailed by promising independence for Arabia. In June 1916, Faisal committed to a revolt against the Turks.

           The Arab revolt was somewhat slapdash and got off to a poor start. In October, the British Oriental secretary traveled to Medina, with Lawrence tagging along out of sheer boredom. He eventually persuaded Hussein’s eldest son to allow him to travel inland and assess the situation.

           At a little over two-fifths of the way through the book—just as the narrative seemed ready to wander into another diversion about the other three minor characters, without Lawrence and Faisal yet meeting or a shot being fired—and knowing this author’s tendency to roam widely around a subject, I reluctantly stepped away. I have been fascinated by Lawrence since I first saw the 1962 film, one of the half-dozen movies I admit to having watched probably six times. I have learned a great deal about the Middle East since I was thirteen years old and am still amazed at how badly the British and French mishandled this part of the world more than a century ago. When they eventually stepped back from their roles as imperial powers, the United States jumped in and clumsily stirred the pot a bit more. I would have liked to read the details of the Hejaz revolt and perhaps gain some insights into the Paris Peace Conference, but I do not have the staying power.

The Impossible Thing, Bauer - B +

           Guillemot birds lay five-inch eggs by the hundreds of thousands on the cliff ledges along England's North Sea coast. Each egg is completely different and unique. The eggs were poached by men hanging off the cliffs in harnesses. Most of the eggs were blue or brown, and occasionally green. During the summer of 1926, a young girl was lowered down by a stronger lad and came back up with an all-red egg that a broker paid ten pounds for. The broker, George Ambler, was prepared to auction the egg, but became so enamored of it that he kept it for his own viewing pleasure. As the birds return for their entire lives and lay the exact same egg every year, Ambler committed to buying them all, and history suggests there may have been as many as 30. In 1940, Ambler either fell off Metland Cliff or was helped off; either way, no one mourned him. His staff sold the eggs, kept one, and quickly forgot him.

            A century later, the surviving red egg is sitting in an attic and is robbed almost immediately after Nick puts it up on eBay. Nick and his buddy Patrick, an autistic medical student, begin to search for the stolen egg. They have only a vague understanding of its history. They narrow in on a museum director who is a world authority on birds' eggs. With some deft maneuvering, they find not only the egg, but the other 29 as well, which they joyfully liberate in order to put a century of greed to rest.

           This is a very different, yet intriguing read. And yes, there were 30 red Metland eggs, although no one knows what happened to them.

Canticle, Edwards - B

          A canticle is a song of praise. This novel is set in medieval Bruges in the last years of the thirteenth century. The world of the Church is unsettled: concerns about the endless selling of indulgences are rising, and, more importantly, some in Europe are translating the Word of God into the languages of the people. The Church must maintain its role as the interpreter of holy matters for an uneducated populace.

          Young Aleys is a holy child, enthralled by the beauty of her mother’s psalter and by her daily experience of God’s love. After her mother dies, her father requires her help in managing his woolens business and teaches her to read and write. Having spent so much time poring over the Latin in her mother’s book, she becomes uniquely skilled in both Latin and the local tongue. When her father pledges her to the man in charge of the drapers’ guild, she runs to the Franciscans, who readily accept her.

          Friar Lukas settles her with the holy women in the begijnhof, as she is the Franciscans’ first convert in the Low Countries. The begijnhof has attracted the attention of the bishop, who believes the Dutch translations of the Bible may have originated with the reclusive women known as beguines. He believes he must stage a dramatic suppression of heresy to please the pope. When Aleys prays over the sick in the hospital, some are reported cured. The bishop does not want the people focused on miracles when he needs heretics. He convinces Aleys to surrender to a life of holy seclusion in an anchorhold attached to the cathedral. Her only exposure to the outside world is through her maid, Marte, who tends to her needs, and Lukas, her confessor. When a crazed Lukas unlocks her door and attempts to attack her, she flees. Breaking her vow of seclusion should lead to excommunication.

         The papal legate clearly has no desire to condemn her at trial, and the matter is set aside. However, the bishop then presents Marte as a heretic responsible for the widespread translations circulating in the city. Knowing that Marte and the entire begijnhof will be burned, Aleys steps forward and proclaims that the translations are hers. She pays the ultimate price at the stake.