This book will describe and attempt to explain how and why nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans were taken from their homes in the spring and early summer of 1942 and incarcerated in concentration camps by the United States government.

Includes maps of: West Coast Military Zones, 1942-1945; Relocation Centers, 1942-1946.

Background for a roundup, 1850-1941. -- The politics of incarceration, 1941-1942. -- Life behind barbed wire, 1942-1946. -- Return to freedom, 1942-1946. -- Rehabilitation and redress, 1943-1990. -- Could it happen again? -- Epilogue: Since 1990. -- An essay in photographs. -- Appendix: Documents.