The Cold War was initiated in Canada in 1945 by the dramatic defection of Soviet cipher clerk, Igor Gouzenko. This event marked the start of what turned out to be more than four decades of muted conflict between the Soviet Union and the West.
The story of Igor Gouzenko is only one of many tales of espionage and intrigue told in this lavishly illustrated history. Authors Reg Whitaker and Steve Hewitt offer anecdotes, analysis, and lively discussion of a subject that has seldom been written about before. The book is organized by decade with each decade introduced by a short contextualizing essay. Canada and the Cold War is an attractive gift book as well as a fascinating historical overview of a key period in Canadian history.

REG WHITAKER was a professor of political science at York University for many years. He now teaches at the University of Victoria. He is the author of Cold War Canada: The Making of a National Insecurity State, 1945â??1957. His most recent book, The End of Privacy, has also been published in French, German, Spanish and Korean editions.

Reg Whitaker's profile page

STEVE HEWITT was born and raised in Southern Ontario. He is the author of Spying 101: The RCMP's Secret Activities at Canadian Universities, 1917-1997 and is a member of the Department of American and Canadian Studies at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Steve Hewitt's profile page

"Lavishly illustrated with photographs, Canada and the Cold War offers a fascinating portrait of the turbulent times that did so much to shape today's Canada."

Esprit de Corps