Detailing the ways in which the Canadian government built on existing programs for veterans, Peter Neary identifies the key figures and events responsible for developing the orders and statutes that came to be known as the Veterans Charter, creating the Department of Veterans Affairs, and establishing sweeping new benefits for servicemen and women. Comparing rehabilitation programs after the Second World War with those after the First World War, Neary reveals the lasting importance of the country's new way of expressing its obligations to veterans. He shows that the measures developed to reintegrate them into civilian society became essential building blocks for the Canadian welfare state and helped pave the way for the unprecedented prosperity of the 1950s. A comprehensive study of a fundamental change in the relationship between government and citizens, On to Civvy Street is also a timely reminder of the debt the country owes its veterans.

Peter Neary is a professor of history and Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Western Ontario. He is the author of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic World, 1929-1949, and has published a number of other works on Newfoundland.

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"On To Civvy Street brings home the sense of obligation that Canadians felt towards those who served. There is now a contingent of veterans who have been wounded or are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the war in Afghanistan. Peter Neary's fine book reminds us, by implication, of the Federal Government's responsibility for meeting their needs." Henry Roper, The Halifax Chronicle Herald

"On to Civvy Street - informed by a sophisticated and authoritative knowledge and understanding of Canadian history - is balanced, judicious, and convincing. Neary carefully weaves into the text personal narratives of policy makers, the beneficiaries, and

"A comprehensive study of a fundamental change in the relationship between government and citizens, On to Civvy Street is also a timely reminder of the debt the country owes its veterans." Canada's History