First published in 1983, this book reports from the middle of the nuclear arms race, when the world's two superpowers, the US and the USSR, were adding increasingly sophisticated weapons to their arsenals, reaching a point where they could effectively wipe each other out many times over. Some of Canada's most distinguished critics of the nuclear arms race examine this drift to annihilation, show how Canada was contributing to it, and explain the policies that Canada could have adopted to encourage the reversal of the arms race.

In 1988, as the Berlin Wall began to quake and the United States and the Soviet Union prepared to slash their nuclear arsenals, Canada's government remained firmly tied to a Cold War vision of the world. In this book, Regehr and Rosenblum assessed the international strategic situation at the very moment that the superpowers' nuclear standoff began to melt away. Against the backdrop of significant undertakings to halt the drift towards annihilation, the authors' find much to criticize in Canadian defence policy: complicity in reckless American war-fighting strategies; undue adherence to organizations such as NATO and NORAD whose justifications were fast disappearing; a retrograde approach to defending Arctic sovereignty. The Road to Peace is a compelling document that vividly conveys the heady atmosphere of the Cold War's apogee.

First published in 1985, Misguided Missiles examines the intense controversies surrounding Canadian participation in the development of new weapons systems during the Reagan years. Simon Rosenblum demonstrated how these weapons systems were dubious even on their own terms--technically, economically and strategically. Deploying a tremendous depth of research, the author shows how Pentagon and defence industry machinations, rather than security needs, explain the contemporary rise of the cruise missile and Star Wars initiatives. Misguided Missiles offers a vital an immediate appreciation of one of the most contentious debates in Canadian national life in the early 1980s.

The people, forces, and events that have shaped post-war Canada

The final volume in the trilogy "The Struggle Against the Bomb", this book presents the inspiring and dramatic story of how citizen activists helped curb the arms race and prevent nuclear war.

Annotation Employing previously classified Cabinet minutes, memoranda, letters, diaries, drafts of speeches, and other documents, Simpson (political science, U. of Western Ontario) analyzes the underlying beliefs and assumptions of high-level policymakers responsible for shaping Canada's approach to NATO in the cold war years. For over 30 years, two conflicting belief systems--the "defenders" and the "critics"--Significantly influenced Canada's shifting defense policy, particularly in the areas of nuclear weapons acquisitions and Canadian troop contributions to Europe. Simpson's analysis helps explain contemporary defense decisions and Canada's fluctuating attitudes toward NATO, which have puzzled Americans and Europeans. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).