Jailed for Peace: The History of American Draft Law Violators, 1658-1985 (Contributions in Military Studies) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“[This] sympathetic history of resistance to military conscription in the U.S. is no dry-as-dust academic tome. It is a concise, humane chronicle of the most familiar expression of a very old American ideal--pacifism.”–Booklist

“Concise and clearly written, it makes important points and supports them with a strong collection of evidence. . . . Jailed for Peace will itself make a significant and lasting contribution to liberty and world peace.”–Resistance News --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

In this first comprehensive treatment of the subject, Stephen Kohn presents an accessible, clearly written survey of draft resistance in America and its implications for constitutional democracy, domestic and foreign policy, social change, and the movement for world peace. The author explores the roots of the pacifist view and the first expressions of resistance that surfaced during the colonial period. He describes the incidence of draft resistance through the time of the Civil War and how it related to abolitionism. Following the modern conscientious objector through two world wars, Kohn comments on the view of pacifists during "popular" wars as little better than traitors and on their brutal treatment. Examining the growth of the movement during the Cold War, he addresses the major shift in public attitude that expanded the movement's base of popular support and swelled the ranks of resisters. Draft resistance was to have its greatest impact, however, during the Vietnam War and its aftermath, in influencing public feeling about the war, thwarting the Selective Service's induction efforts, and creating a climate of opinion that contributed to the government's decision to abandon the draft early in the 1970s.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 181 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press; No Paperback Ed edition (January 21, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031324586X
• ISBN-13: 978-0313245862
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,933,906 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)