Facing the Mountain

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat,a gripping World War II saga of patriotismhighlighting 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 familiesincarcerated back home; and a young man who refused to surrender his constitutional rightseven 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 their American homeland. They faced bigotryyet they believed in their bright futures as American citizens. But within days of Pearl Harborthe 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 researchit portrays the kaleidoscopic journey of four Japanese-American families and their sonswho volunteered for 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were deployed to FranceGermanyand Italywhere they were asked to do the near impossible. But this is more than a war story. Brown also tells the story of these soldiers’ parentsimmigrants who were forced to shutter the businessessurrender their homesand submit to life in concentration camps on U.S. soil. Woven throughout is the chronicle of a brave young manone of a cadre of patriotic resisters who stood up against their government in defense of their own rights. Whether fighting on battlefields or in courtroomsthese were Americans under unprecedented straindoing what Americans do best–strivingresistingpushing backrising upstanding on principlelaying down their livesand enduring.