The train to crystal city:

FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America's Only Family Internment Camp During World War II

by Jan Jarboe Russell

 

A lot of history crammed in here, but somehow, it felt like an overview.  Especially toward the end.  How is that possible?

Mr. Russell  chose a handful of significant people to follow, in particular the director of the camp and a few of the American children who were involuntarily detained. In the first few chapters, he'd frequently adopt the point of view of one of those people. And he'd then expand out to tell the family history of the children, how they came to be there and what their family life was like.

This was great stuff and I loved it. But at some point it began to be less episodic and more linear, almost textbookish. I found myself involuntarily "skimming" to get to something I could relate to. Not that I don't love reading history--dates, times, places and people are all fascinating--but didn't start out simply reading facts and didn't have my brain geared that way.

Luckily, the personal narration resumed for some of the people, in particular two families who were "repatriated" to Germany and Japan, so I ended feeling somewhat satisfied.  But there was still a certain unsettling lack of structure about the work.