North To Canada

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.

The story of an estimated half-million American men and women who went to Canada as a result of their opposition to the Vietnam War, this book, which focuses on those who remained in Canada, offers a resister's eye view of the most traumatic war in American history.

Library Journal

Not until the end of this excellent inquiry does the reader learn that Dickerson, the author of the popular music books Women on Top (Watson-Guptill, 1998) and Goin' Back to Memphis (S. & S., 1996), moved to Canada to avoid the draft. 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--primarily from contemporary magazine articles--of the migration of 500,000 Americans, half of them women, to Canada, where they were welcomed by a government headed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. This is in sharp contrast to Dickerson's indictment of an America that turned its back on its children--both war resisters and emotionally and physically scarred veterans--as it struggled to redeem its collective soul. An excellent complement--less comprehensive but better written--to Tom Wells's acclaimed The War Within (LJ 3/15/94) and, despite the price, recommended for public libraries and highly recommended for Vietnam-era and peace collections.--Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

JAMES DICKERSON is a veteran journalist who has written for numerous magazines and newspapers.