This extraordinary work of non-fiction unpacks an historical event that seems outside of history when Herbert begins working on it. In 1911 Mexico, when guerilla forces challenged President Porfirio Diaz’s rule, over three days men on both sides perpetrated a “little genocide” (Herbert’s term) on 300+ Chinese in the town of Torreón. Most Chinese were successful relative to Mexican workers and farm workers, and Madero’s followers took the opportunity to right the social order by terrorizing the outsider. Herbert checks primary sources against the one scholarly historical account of the incident to draw out the complicated story of the Chinese diaspora, Mexican politics, and racism in the Americas. It’s a fascinating take on racist violence and helped me think about U.S. history differently.