Synopses & Reviews
On May 17th, 1968, a group of Catholic antiwar activists burst into a draft board in suburban Baltimore, stole hundreds of Selective Service records (which they called "death certificates"), and burned the documents in a fire fueled by homemade napalm. The bold actions of the Catonsville Nine quickly became international news and captured headlines throughout the summer and fall of 1968 when the activists, defended by radical attorney William Kunstler, were tried in federal court.
In The Catonsville Nine, Shawn Francis Peters, a Catonsville native, offers the first comprehensive account of this key event in the history of 1960's protest. While thousands of supporters thronged the streets outside the courthouse, the Catonsville Nine--whose ranks included activist priests Philip and Daniel Berrigan--delivered passionate indictments of the war in Vietnam and the brutality of American foreign policy. The proceedings reached a stirring climax, as the nine activists led the entire courtroom (the judge and federal prosecutors included) in the Lord's Prayer. Peters gives readers vivid, blow-by-blow accounts of the draft raid, the trial, and the ensuing manhunt for the Berrigans, George Mische, and Mary Moylan, who went underground rather than report to prison. He also examines the impact of Daniel Berrigan's play, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, and the larger influence of this remarkable act of civil disobedience. More than 40 years after they stormed the draft board, the Catonsville Nine are still invoked by both secular and religious opponents of militarism.
Based on a wealth of sources, including archival documents, the activists' previously unreleased FBI files, and a variety of eyewitness accounts, The Catonsville Nine tells a story as relevant and instructive today as it was in 1968.
Review
"In 1967, the respected Vietnam historian Bernard Fall warned that Vietnam 'is threatened with extinction [under] the blows of the largest military machine ever unleashed on an area of this size.' This remarkable study brings to life the courageous activists who sought to prevent this horrifying outcome with a principled act of civil disobedience, exploring the complex circumstances and consequences with rare sensitivity and insight." --Noam Chomsky
"Peters offers a rich and engrossing study of nine passionate activists who displayed their disgust with the war in Vietnam by destroying draft registration files in the Baltimore area. The book vividly depicts the lives of these men and women; who they were, what they did, why they did it, and the notable trial that followed their arrest. The Catonsville Nine is a valuable contribution to social and legal history; and an absorbing study, too, of the psychology, politics, and theology of protest and non-violence." --Lawrence Friedman, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
"The definitive account of 'arguably the single most powerful antiwar act in American history.' Well researched and well told, it reads like a thriller, with all the pain, drama, and power of the 1960s anti-war movement--but it's far more important than any thriller. Peters deftly takes us through the epic tale and trial of ordinary activists determined to do what they could to help end the U.S. war in Viet Nam, how they broke new ground in symbolic nonviolent civil disobedience, and sparked a movement that indeed helped end the war. Like Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters, The Catonsville Nine makes movement history come alive and pushes us to carry on their mission for the abolition of war once and for all." -- John Dear, activist and author of Living Peace, Jesus the Rebel
"Combining a novel's readability with in-depth historical research, Peters recounts the genesis of the Catonsville Nine and the protest." --Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Shawn Francis Peters is Humanities Educator at the Center for Educational Opportunity, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of
When Prayer Fails, Judging Jehovah's Witnesses, and
The Yoder Case.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Arguably the Single Most Powerful Antiwar Act in American History"
Chapter 1: "I Want You to Meet This Priest"
Chapter 2: "What About Destroying a Death Certificate?"
Chapter 3: "In Jail For the Right Reason"
Chapter 4: "A Great Human Act Done by Sincere Men"
Chapter 5: "Guatemala Smells Like South Vietnam Did a Few Years Ago"
Chapter 6: "Did You Hear What We Are Planning?"