Ward draws upon a rich record of events and opinion in the provincial press, manuscript collections, and successive federal enquiries and royal commissions on Asian immigration. He locates the origins of west coast racism in the frustrated vision of a white British Columbia and an unshakeable belief in the unassimilability of the Asian immigrant. Canadian attitudes were dominated by a series of interlocking, hostile stereotypes derived from western perceptions of Asia and modified by the encounter between whites and Asians on the north Pacific coast. Public pressure on local, provincial, and federal governments led to discriminatory policies in the field of immigration and employment, and culminated in the forced relocation of west coast Japanese residents during World War II.

Peter Ward is professor emeritus of history at the University of British Columbia and the author of several books on the social history of Canada and the history of population health.

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"Well written ... carefully traces the rise of racist attitudes and practices in British Columbia ... a notable contribution to Canadian history in particular and our understanding of race relations in general." Pacific Affairs