Peter Schrag, who has written for The Nation for nearly a half century, is a former editorial page editor of the Sacramento Bee and a visiting scholar at the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. His book, Paradise Lost: California’s Experience, America’s Future was a New York Times notable book in 1998. His most recent book, When Europe Was a Prison Camp: Father and Son Memoirs, 1940-41, was published last year by Indiana University Press.