Around the turn of the 20th century and for decades thereafter, Oregon had the second-largest Chinese population in the US. In terms of geographical coverage, Portland's two Chinatowns one an urban area of brick commercial structures, the other a community of shanty dwellings and vegetable gardens were the largest in North America. Wong (Institute of Public Service, Seattle U.) draws on primary material from the National Archives to examine the enforcement of exclusion laws in the US and chronicle the history of Portland's Chinatowns from their beginnings in the 1850s until the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 1940s. Sprinkled with b&w photos. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)