Waging Peace
Waging Peace
Looking for an examination copy?
If you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an examination copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.
$44.99
USDWaging Peace dispels lingering myths of the frequently disregarded Vietnam antiwar movement as dominated by a subversive collection of political radicals and countercultural rebels. This comprehensive history defines a broad movement built around a core of liberal and mainstream activists who challenged what they saw as a misguided and immoral national policy. Facing ongoing resistance from the government and its prowar supporters, demonstrators upheld First Amendment rights and effectively countered official rationales for the war. These dissenting patriots frequently appealed to traditional American principles and overwhelmingly used the tools of democracy within conventional boundaries to align the nation's practice with its most righteous vision. This work covers not only the activists and organizations whose coalitions sponsored mass demonstrations and their often-symbiotic allies within the government, but also encompasses international, military, and cultural dissent. Achieving positive if limited impact, the movement was ultimately neither victorious nor defeated.
- Redefines the antiwar movement broadly, as predominantly mainstream and patriotic
- Includes dissent in allied nations, within the US military, and in popular culture
- Includes more than two dozen mini biographies of antiwar activists
Reviews & endorsements
‘For readers who have studied the antiwar movement you will be surprised that Hall has uncovered so many new interesting characters and events. For new readers on the topic-this is where you begin your reading journey. Mitchell Hall’s research is judicious, the writing lucid and exciting, and the conclusions spot on. Waging Peace is a tour de force.’ Terry H. Anderson, Texas A&M University and author of The Movement and the Sixties, The Sixties, and Bush’s Wars
‘Waging Peace deftly pulls together all the varied threads of anti-Vietnam War activism - from radical to conservative, from pacifist to veteran. With this massive undertaking, Mitchell Hall clearly illustrates the pitfalls and promise of big-tent, decentralized organizing.’ Amy Rutenberg, author of Rough Draft: Cold War Military Manpower Policy and the Origins of Vietnam-Era Draft Resistance
‘Mitchell Hall’s magisterial study of the Vietnam anti-war movement easily supplants all earlier publications on this controversial subject. His deep research into official archives and the records of scores of movement groups, coupled with his balanced assessments of their impact, and use of mini-biographies and contemporary music, makes Waging Peace the single best study of the movement.’ Melvin Small, author of Antiwarriors: The Vietnam War and the Battle for America's Hearts and Minds
Product details
January 2026Hardback
9781009643269
482 pages
229 × 152 mm
Not yet published - available from January 2026
Table of Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction: Securing the First Amendment
- 1. The Emerging Crisis (through 1964). 2. The War Within (1965)
- 3. Organized Anarchy (1966)
- 4. From Protest to Resistance (1967)
- 5. Participatory Democracy (1968). 6. Candles in the Darkness (1969). 7. Tin Soldiers and Nixon Coming (1970)
- 8. The Turning (1971)
- 9. Challenging the War Machine (1972)
- 10. This Is Still a Democracy Isn't It? (1973–1975)
- Bibliography
- Index.
