The impeccably researched, deeply moving, never-before-told tale about a World War II incarceration camp in Wyoming and its extraordinary high school football team—for fans of The Boys in the Boat and The Storm on Our Shores.
In the spring of 1942, the United States government forced 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona and sent them to incarceration camps across the West. Nearly 14,000 of them landed on the outskirts of Cody, Wyoming, at the base of Heart Mountain.
Behind barbed wire fences, they faced racism, cruelty, and frozen winters. Trying to recreate comforts from home, many established Buddhist temples and sumo wrestling pits. Kabuki performances drew hundreds of spectators—yet there was little hope.
That is, until the fall of 1943, when the camp’s high school football team, the Eagles, started its first season and finished it undefeated, crushing the competition from nearby, predominantly white high schools. Amid all this excitement, American politics continued to disrupt their lives as the federal government drafted men from the camps for the front lines—including some of the Eagles. As the team’s second season kicked off, the young men faced a choice to either join the Army or resist the draft. Teammates were divided, and some were jailed for their decisions.
The Eagles of Heart Mountain honors the resilience of extraordinary heroes and the power of sports in a sweeping and inspirational portrait of one of the darkest moments in American history.
Download and start listening now!
“Colorful, richly detailed, and deeply human, The Eagles of Heart Mountain mixes a fascinating history of the Japanese in the United States with a uniquely American story about one of the darkest chapters of our modern history.”
— Garrett M. Graff, author of The Only Plane in the Sky
“Pearson succeeds in unearthing a feel-good story from a dark chapter in US history. The result is a worthy portrait of triumph in the face of tragedy.”
— Publishers Weekly"The Eagles of Heart Mountain will have you rooting for its young heroes as they defy bigotry and barbed wire.”
— Jason Fagone, author of The Woman Who Smashed Codes“Weaves the greatness of the unlikeliest football team you’ll ever meet into the history of Japanese American incarceration during World War II…Readers won’t soon forget Babe Nomura and Horse Yoshinaga.”
— Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long NightBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Bradford Pearson is an author and the features editor for Southwest: The Magazine. He has written for Esquire, Time, and Salon, among many other publications.
Feodor Chin, an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an actor classically trained at the American Conservatory Theater and UCLA. His acting career includes numerous credits in film, television, theater, and voice-over.