“Engrossing…This fascinating study vividly illuminates the many injustices that the pseudoscience of eugenics inflicted on so many would-be Americans.”

“Written with a grace that any novelist would envy.”

“A masterful narrative, sprinkled with wit.”

“Sobering, thoughtful and necessary .”

“Engrossing... It’s a grim and sordid story, but Okrent is a companionable, witty, and judicious guide.”

“The story of this triumph of ignorance has been told before, but never more vividly.... A rigorously historical work.””

“A fascinating, well-told story.”

“What’s so unsettling about Daniel Okrent’s spellbinding history of a previous immigration controversy is how it resonates with today’s debate. Insightful, unsparing, and totally absorbing, this book frames the discussion against a compelling historical backdrop that describes the gap between the American ideal and the American reality.”

“Daniel Okrent is a gifted social historian. In this powerful, fast-paced, and highly relevant chronicle of bad science and fearful prejudice, Okrent helps us understand how and why our country lost its way about a century ago.”

“A frighteningly timely book about a particularly ugly period in American history, a bigotry-riddled chapter many thought was closed but that shows recent signs of re-opening…. [A] revelatory and necessary historical account.”

“A vivid new book…jam-packed with appalling examples” of anti-immigrant passions “primarily targeted at Catholics and Jews…”

“A surprising history reminiscent of Okrent’s ‘Last Call’...in its focus on the unlikely alliances that converged to effect political change.”