Synopses & Reviews
While we may never know the exact number of Americans who chose Canada over Vietnam, an estimated half-million men and women went north as a result of their opposition to the war. Despite President Ford's amnesty and President Carter's pardon, some of these exiles never returned. This book, which focuses upon those who remained in Canada, offers a resister's eye view of the most traumatic war in American history. Dickerson blends resister interviews with an account of the historical events that served as watersheds for these young Americans.
Dickerson answers the question: Whatever happened to the men and women who went to Canada? With contextual information regarding the policies of both the U.S. and Canadian governments towards the war and its resisters, Dickerson offers evidence that a generation of America's best and brightest was lost to Canada. His inclusion of female resisters contributes a new perspective to the debate that continues to rage more than 25 years after the withdrawal of the last American troops in Vietnam.
Review
"The output of books on the Vietnam War seems endless, but this one is different. It focuses on the issue of draft resisters, particularly resisters who fled the US for Canada….Although this is a journalistic rather than an academic account…undergraduates should find it interesting." - Choice
Review
"…an engaging read that skilfully uses several individual anecdotes to create a wider portrait of American society in the 1960s and 1970s." - The Canadian Historical Review
Review
"(An) excellent inquiry….His anger and that of the seven resisters who are the main characters of this book make for a highly charged story. Rather than an oral history of their lives, this is a most readable reconstruction of events….Recommended for public libraries and highly recommended for Vietnam-era and peace collections." - Library Journal