Canadians might expect that a history of Canada's participation in the Cold War would be a self-congratulatory exercise in documenting the liberality and moderation of Canada set against the rapacious purges of the McCarthy era in the United States. Though Reg Whitaker and Gary Marcuse agree that there is some evidence for Canadian moderation, they argue that the smug Canadian self-image is exaggerated.

Cold War Canada digs past the official moderation and uncovers a systematic state-sponsored repression of communists and the Left directed at civil servants, scientists, trade unionists, and political activists. Unlike the United States, Canada's purges were shrouded in secrecy imposed by the government and avidly supported by the RCMP security service. Whitaker and Marcuse manage to reconstruct several of the significant anti-communist campaigns. Using declassified documents, interviews, and extensive archival sources, the authors reconstruct the Gouzenko spy scandal, trace the growth of security screening of civil servants, and re-examine purges in the National Film Board and the trade unions, attacks on peace activist James G. Endicott, and the trials of Canadian diplomat Herbert Norman.

Based on these examples Whitaker and Marcuse outline the creation of Canada's Cold War policy, the emergence of the new security state, and the alignment of Canada with the United States in the global Cold War. They demonstrate that Canada did take a different approach toward the threat of communism, but argue that the secret repression and silent purges used to stifle dissent and debate about Canada's own role in the Cold War had a chilling effect on the practice of liberal democracy and undermined Canadian political and economic sovereignty.

Gary Marcuse is an independent journalist and film-maker who lives in Vancouver.

Gary Marcuse's profile page

Reginald Whitaker is a professor of Political Science, York University.

Reginald Whitaker's profile page

'Read Cold War Canada. Contemplate our collective folly of the Cold War years. Reflect on the damage done to our society and to blameless individuals. And wonder, if you will, how today's pursuit of political correctness will look 40 years on. Whitaker and Marcuse make a solid, if disquieting, contribution to the Canadian story. It's a bonus that their book is such a good read.'Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Citizen

'Toronto political scientist Reg Whitaker and Vancouver film-maker Gary Marcuse have produced a thoroughly researched and elegantly written book on Canada's first 10 years in the Cold War. Their work is pioneering because nothing hitherto on this subject has been so thoroughly researched and so critically pursued.'

Allen Mills, <em>Winnipeg Free Press</em>

'Cold War Canada goes well beyond the often cursory and statist texts by historians like J.L. Granatstein and remains a must for anyone who believes that the Canadian state is necessarily or has always been a model to be followed.'

Larry Woods, <em>The Prince George Citizen</em>

'Cold War Canada is an informative, insightful, and important indictment of the Canadian security establishment and Cold War policy.'Quill & Quire

Quill and Quire

'Cold War Canada is a much fuller portrait of this period than any previous Canadian book on the topic and broadens our understanding of this country's history.'

Len Scher, <em>The Toronto Star</em>