Confronting the War Machine
Draft Resistance during the Vietnam War
By Michael S. Foley
456 pp., 6 x 9, 30 illus., 29 tables , appends., notes, bibl., index
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Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-5436-5
Published: March 2003 -
eBook ISBN: 978-0-8078-6243-8
Published: November 2003
Buy this Book
- Paperback $42.50
- E-Book $29.99
Awards & distinctions
2005 Scott Bills Memorial Prize, Peace History Society
Focusing on Boston, one of the movement's most prominent centers, Foley reveals the crucial role of draft resisters in shifting antiwar sentiment from the margins of society to the center of American politics. Their actions inspired other draft-age men opposed to the war--especially college students--to reconsider their place of privilege in a draft system that offered them protections and sent disproportionate numbers of working-class and minority men to Vietnam. This recognition sparked the change of tactics from legal protest to mass civil disobedience, drawing the Johnson administration into a confrontation with activists who were largely suburban, liberal, young, and middle class--the core of Johnson's Democratic constituency.
Examining the day-to-day struggle of antiwar organizing carried out by ordinary Americans at the local level, Foley argues for a more complex view of citizenship and patriotism during a time of war.
About the Author
Michael S. Foley is assistant professor of history at the City University of New York's College of Staten Island.
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Reviews
"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
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