"Enemies of the People"

I'm reading a terrific new book by Kati Marton, Enemies of the People. It's about her discovery of her life as a little girl and that of her family through the files of the Hungarian secret police, the AVO. It demonstrates, should that still be necessary, the universality of what Hanna Arendt so aptly described as the "banality of evil." Highly recommended!

Get an autographed copy from the author

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High praise from an unbiased source - my cousin!

I read the review and commentary of your swell new book, Homeland Insecurity. This one sounds like a best seller, Steve. You are so smart, together, and talented.

"Guilty until proven forgotten about" - Stephen Colbert

I use the Colbert quote (above) in my book to illustrate (with humor) one of the evils of indefinite detention in the United States during World War II. Then along comes Glenn Grenwald in Salon.com, who writes of current events (1/2/10):

"Virtually all of the 90 Yemeni detainees currently at Guantanamo have been imprisoned for years despite never having been charged with any crime.  Roughly half of them have been officially "cleared for release" -- meaning even the U.S. Government believes they did nothing wrong or pose no danger to the U.S.  Two weeks ago, the Obama administration, to its credit, released 6 Yemeni detainees -- after years in captivity -- because a federal court was about to grant their habeas petition on the ground that there is no evidence to justify their detention.  In response, people like John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Dianne Feinstein are demanding with a monarchical wave of the hand that all Yemenis be kept imprisoned anyway and not released, and according to this morning's New York Times, the Obama administration now plans to hold the rest of them indefinitely."

"Failure to Communicate"

If, as it appears, the intelligence community failed to share what individual agencies knew about the purported Christmas Day 2009 bomber BEFORE he boarded the plane, it is an eerie echo of events described in my Chapter Two. In the latter, the FBI had under surveillance for several months a German couple whose apprehension and interrogation would have revealed - prior to December 7 - the intent of the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor.

John Christgau writes:

"HOMELAND INSECURITY is a gem of a book, on about six levels, from engaging anecdote to personal narrative to sweeping history, and best of all, the connections between yesterday and today."

Emeritus Faculty Luncheon

Gave my book talk at the luncheon yesterday.  Turnout very gratifying.  I got some questions that I did a lousy job of answering.  Most of the audience knew nothing about European relocation and internment.

Enjoyed talking with old colleagues. 

My thanks to Jae for arranging everything. 

The book is live!

My new book is now "live" and available to order.  Check with your local bookstore, or order online from iUniverse (softcover, hardcover, e-book). Also available at a discount from Amazon.com.

Radio interview

I just finished an interview with iUniverse Radio that will be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 14.  I have posted a podcast (mp3) of the interview. Click on the link below:


RADIO BROADCAST

Additional editorial comments

"Compelling reading, putting humanity into the statistics that we know exist.... A beautifully executed, provocative book."

From the publisher's editorial evaluation...

"A very interesting and beautifully-written book. It was a pleasure to read."

Chapters: "Homeland Insecurity"

Introduction

1 Profiling

2 The FBI, Spies, & Military Commissions

3 Secret Arrests, Due Process, & Habeas Corpus

4 Changing Standards of Dangerousness

5 Arbitrary Detention, Sentencing, & Release

6 Punishment, Not Security

7 Repatriation & Deportation

8 Extraordinary Rendition

9 Second-Class Citizenship

Conclusion