A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Masterly.
An epic story of four Japanese-American families and their sons who
volunteered for military service and displayed uncommon heroism…
Propulsive and gripping, in part because of Mr. Brown’s ability to make
us care deeply about the fates of these individual soldiers...a
page-turner.” – Wall Street Journal
“A masterwork of American history that will change the way we look at World War II."—Adam Makos, author of A Higher Call
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat,
a gripping World War II saga of patriotism, highlighting the
contributions and sacrifices that Japanese immigrants and their
American-born children made for the sake of the nation: the courageous
Japanese-American Army unit that overcame brutal odds in Europe; their
families, incarcerated back home; and a young man who refused to
surrender his constitutional rights, even if it meant imprisonment.
They
came from across the continent and Hawaii. Their parents taught them to
embrace both their Japanese heritage and the ways of America. They
faced bigotry, yet they believed in their bright futures as American
citizens. But within days of Pearl Harbor, the FBI was ransacking their
houses and locking up their fathers. And within months many would
themselves be living behind barbed wire.
Facing the Mountain
is an unforgettable chronicle of war-time America and the battlefields
of Europe. Based on Daniel James Brown's extensive interviews with the
families of the protagonists as well as deep archival research, it
portrays the kaleidoscopic journey of four Japanese-American families
and their sons, who volunteered for 442nd Regimental Combat Team and
were deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, where they were asked to do
the near impossible.
But this is more than a war story. Brown
also tells the story of these soldiers' parents, immigrants who were
forced to shutter the businesses, surrender their homes, and submit to
life in concentration camps on U.S. soil. Woven throughout is the
chronicle of a brave young man, one of a cadre of patriotic resisters
who stood up against their government in defense of their own rights.
Whether fighting on battlefields or in courtrooms, these were Americans
under unprecedented strain, doing what Americans do best--striving,
resisting, pushing back, rising up, standing on principle, laying down
their lives, and enduring.
