Author Description

Throughout World War II the United States operated a nationwide gulag for 'dangerous enemy aliens.' The story of this prison archipelago would have remained hidden were it not for the memories of its human commerce and the Freedom of Information Act. Encouraged by President Franklin Roosevelt, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI rounded up nearly 11,000 people of German ancestry, including Jewish refugees from occupied Europe and over 4,000 residents of Latin America and sentenced them to this nationwide gulag. Weaving together first-person interviews and government records in this unique study, Fox tells the story of internment and exclusion. 'A fascinating and chilling account.... The oral histories breathe Kafkaesque life into the written record. More than putting flesh on bare bones, the oral histories make credible what is otherwise an almost unbelievable tale.' -The Oral History Review 'Thoroughly documented, excellent sources, fine index, must reading for all concerned about a repetition and... erosion of American civil liberties.' -Society for German-American Studies Newsletter 'What sets 'Against All Enemies' apart from other studies of ethnic German wartime internment and exclusion is the degree to which those directly impacted relate the story. Through their own simple, occasionally passionate words, they offer a compelling tale of the human cost of internment and exclusion.' -Yearbook of German-American Studies 'Must reading for all concerned about a repetition and erosion of civil liberties.' -Society for German-American Studies Newsletter