Confronting the War Machine

“A meticulous recounting of the origins of the movement in Boston, its national expansion, and its changing ideology and tactics. . . . Foley’s thoughtful conclusion reviews the overall impact of the resistance movement.” — International History Review

“[Foley] focuses not on draft dodgers but on resisters, whose most dramatic and consequential form of protest was draft-card burning. . . . Strongly recommended.” — Library Journal

“Provides a thoughtful (and passionate) interpretation of the antiwar movement that is one of the best and most nuanced now available.” — CHOICE

“Impressively researched and well written. . . . [Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance during the Vietnam War] deepens our knowledge of the protest movements of the 1960s.” — History of Education Quarterly

“This book deserves to be regarded among the important monographs now filling out our understanding of that tumultuous period.” — American Historical Review

“Foley’s book, in which well-chosen anecdotes are matched by solid analysis, rings true to a reviewer who was a friend of many of those involved in the resistance movement, as well as an observer of antiwar actions in Boston.” — Boston Globe

“A model of research with methods carefully defined and results of primary data laid out in crisp and engaging detail. With Foley’s fine study of draft resistance, historians have no further excuse to slight this important movement when dealing with the antiwar era.” — Journal of American History

“Impressive . . . Foley drew upon an exceptionally wide range of primary sources. . . . Together with Foley’s powerful writing and cogent analysis, this extensive research helps make Confronting the War Machine a vibrant, first-rate scholarly study.” — New England Quarterly

“We prepare for the future by understanding the past. Michael Foley’s timely book, with lucid, original scholarship, tells the precious story of a time when America, following truly patriotic Americans, gave peace a chance.” — James Carroll, author of An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War That Came Between Us

“Exhaustively researched, thoughtfully argued, and cogently written, Confronting the War Machine is the best scholarly study of draft resistance during the Vietnam War. Foley has recovered an almost forgotten history that poses a striking contrast to many of the postwar stereotypes that portray antiwar activists as frivolous, cowardly elitists who sought only to save their own skins. Here we are introduced to a group of people who confronted some of the most difficult political and moral dilemmas of the entire Cold War period, and did so with seriousness, commitment, and courage.” — Christian G. Appy, author of Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam