Canada and the Cold War (review)

In their illustrated history of the Cold War, Reg Whitaker and Steve Hewitt remind us about the cyclical nature of history. Having only recently decried the illiberal tactics and excesses of the Cold War, Western society finds itself once again on the brink of a new age of national security paranoia in the wake of terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. Both the Cold War and the currently evolving war on terrorism represent much more than simply a few pieces of repressive legislation - a social consensus pursuing a vague goal in which basic democratic rights are violated in order to counter an ill-defined enemy.

The book is divided into five core sections, each representing a decade from the 1940s to the 1980s. Each decade opens up with a few pages introducing the key themes of that particular era followed by a series of short chapters, no longer than a few pages, on key individuals, events, and developments arising from the Cold War. International events from the Korean war to the Cuban Missile Crisis are mixed in with domestic developments such as the Gouzenko affair and RCMP security practices. All too often the history of the Cold War is portrayed as a movement monopolized by the state, but in this case the authors provide an all-encompassing view of the Cold War by demonstrating how its hegemony permeated every aspect of Canadian life, from the dismissal of suspected Communists in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to the rhetoric and symbolism surrounding the 1972 hockey series between the Soviet Union and Canada.

Many of the key themes of the Cold War are raised in the book. Among the issues introduced are the excesses of anti-Communism, espionage cases, RCMP security screening, relations with the United States, the rise of the separatist movement, relations with China and the Soviet Union, domestic movements dedicated to wiping out Communism, and the peace movement. Several of these core themes are well expressed through a host of well-chosen images throughout the book, which include not only individual photographs, but posters, advertisements, and leaflets depicting various Cold War themes. The authors also emphasize how Canada imported American notions of security, notably in immigration practices and security screening, while avoiding the public messiness of McCarthyism. Perhaps the central issue raised in the book, however, is the way in which the Cold War represented an attack on basic liberal freedoms, allowing people to lose their jobs or be censored because of their suspected ideological beliefs. This relates back to some of Whitaker's earlier work where he has convincingly argued that Canada's behind-the-scenes vetting practices could be construed as illiberal as McCarthyism by not providing victims with information on why they were dismissed or a public forum to defend themselves. Readers can follow up on these issues through a list of books and films provided at the end of the book, since there are no citations available in the text.

Although the work presents a few original case studies, it is not designed to offer new information but to present the history of the Cold War in an imaginative, entertaining, and accessible format. Anecdotes are scattered throughout the narrative, with such images as Canadian hockey players removing suspected electronic bugs from their hotel rooms in Moscow, only to have a chandelier crash to the floor in the room below. A particularly effective technique employed by the authors is the use of short biographies, from Hal Banks to Paul Robeson, to demonstrate key themes in the history of the Cold War. Almost every chapter makes an effort to link historical events with current developments. These developments include the federal government's recent decision to compensate individuals who were unjustly dismissed in the 1950s because they were labelled subversives, and linking current debates on Canada's role in NATO with its historically strong support for the military alliance. Whitaker and Hewitt also raise important 'generational' aspects of the Cold War, noting how older...