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Forty-five years after the fall of Saigon, John Boyko brings to light the little-known story of Canada's involvement in the American War in Vietnam.
Through the lens of six remarkable people, some well-known, others obscure, bestselling historian John Boyko recounts Canada's often-overlooked involvement in that conflict as peacemaker, combatant, and provider of weapons and sanctuary.
When Brigadier General Sherwood Lett arrived in Vietnam over a decade before American troops, he and the Canadians under his command risked their lives trying to enforce an unstable peace while questioning whether they were merely handmaidens to a new war. As American battleships steamed across the Pacific, Canadian diplomat Blair Seaborn was meeting secretly in Hanoi with North Vietnam’s prime minister; if American leaders accepted his roadmap to peace, those ships could be turned around before war began. Claire Culhane worked in a Canadian hospital in Vietnam and then returned home to implore Canadians to stop supporting what she deemed an immoral war. Joe Erickson was among 30,000 young Americans who changed Canada by evading the draft and heading north; Doug Carey was one of the 20,000 Canadians who enlisted with the American forces to serve in Vietnam. Rebecca Trinh fled Saigon with her husband and young daughters, joining the waves of desperate Indochinese refugees, thousands of whom were to forge new lives in Canada.
Through these wide-ranging and fascinating accounts, Boyko exposes what he calls the Devil’s wiliest trick: convincing leaders that war is desirable, persuading the public that it is acceptable, and telling combatants that the deeds they carry out and the horrors they experience are normal, or at least necessary. In uncovering Canada’s side of the story, Boyko reveals the many secret and forgotten ways that Canada not only fought the war but was forever shaped by its lessons and lies.
About the Author
My 8th book, The Devil's Trick: How Canada Fought the Vietnam War, will be published by Knopf Penguin Random House in Canada and the US on April 13, 2021. It explores the largely unknown ways in which Canada was involved in the war and changed by it.Sir John's Echo: The Voice for a Stronger Canada, was released by Dundurn Press in 2017.Cold Fire: Kennedy's Northern Front, was published by Knopf Penguin Random House in Canada and the US in 2016. It was short-listed for the Dafoe Prize for Non-Fiction.Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation was published in 2013. It was a national bestseller and chosen as one of the Globe and Mail's Best Books of the year. It was shortlisted for a Governor General's award for its translation into French.My other books include Bennett: The Rebel Who Challenged and Changed a Nation, Into the Hurricane: Attacking CCF and Socialism in Canada, and Last Steps to Freedom: The Evolution of Canadian Racism.I enjoy writing my Monday morning blog (johnboyko.com) and I also write op-eds for newspapers across Canada and entries for the Canadian Encyclopedia.
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