In many cases, Wunder did the painstaking work of counting instances. Readers will find a ready reference of key details such as tabulated incidents of anti-Chinese violence from 1850 to 1910 and 'Chinese Litigants before Southwest Supreme Courts, 1849-1902.' . . . Adding to the value of these essays is the Foreword by Liping Zhu, which contextualizes the significance of the Chinese cases and Wunder's recovery of them.--Victor Jew, Western Historical Quarterly

An understanding of the legal position and problems that Chinese Americans faced in the nineteenth century is crucial to an understanding of Chinese American and Asian American history, and this single book provides the foundation necessary.--Southern California Quarterly

An understanding of the legal position and problems that Chinese Americans faced in the nineteenth century is crucial to an understanding of Chinese American and Asian American history, and this single book provides the foundation necessary.--Southern California Quarterly

[Wunder] extends the history of local and state laws beyond California to the greater American West, including the states and territories of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and New Mexico. Given the overrepresentation of California in Chinese American history more broadly, this is a vital contribution in and of itself.--Beth Lew-Williams, Journal of Arizona History

Wunder excels in his breadth of coverage of legal trends relating to the Chinese in the American West and in the depth of his research in archives across the region. His prose humanizes these cases by sharing the personal stories, motivations, choices, and impacts on the people involved, while clearly explaining the legal issues under consideration.--Montana The Magazine of Western History

Very few other historians of Chinese America can match [Wunder's] ability to place Chinese legal issues so securely within the context of national events and relations among ethnic groups.--Oregon Historical Quarterly