"[Voices of Angel Island] is thoroughly researched, providing fascinating insights into the lives of many of the writers from Asia and Europe who left their marks on Angel Island. ... Due to his work as an advisor on the renovations in the immigration station, Egan also had access to writings which are no longer viewable by the public. ... Voices is an invaluable addition to literature on immigration and Asian American and Japanese American history, in the words of those who lived through it." –Grant Din, Nichibei Times
"
Voices of Angel Island is a revelatory study of detention in America. By capturing the inscriptions, graffiti, and poetry of detainees on Angel Island, Charles Egan has produced a rare multi-lingual, multi-ethnic history from below." –
Beth Lew-Williams, Associate Professor of History, Princeton University, USA, and author of The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America (2018) "
Voices of Angel Island brings the voices of unwanted early-20th-century Asian and Russian immigrants to the forefront of the history of modern America. Charles Egan masterfully combines the anthology of migrant poetry and inscriptions from the walls of Angel Island's detention facilities with archival and oral histories to create a visceral and intimate portrait of the politics and experiences of immigration in America." –
Elena Barabantseva, Senior Lecturer in Chinese International Politics, University of Manchester, UK, and author of Overseas Chinese, Ethnic Minorities and Nationalism: De-Centering China (2012)
