The Devil's Trick

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Through the lens of six remarkable participants in the Vietnam War, bestselling historian John Boyko recounts Canada's often-overlooked involvement as peacemaker, combatant, and provider of sanctuary. Brigadier General Sherwood Lett, arriving in Vietnam over a decade before American troops, and his Canadian forces risked their lives to enforce an unstable peace, questioning their role as either American lackeys or facilitators of a new war. Meanwhile, Canadian diplomat Blair Seaborn met secretly in Hanoi with North Vietnam's prime minister, hoping to persuade the Americans to accept his peace roadmap and avert war. Claire Culhane, working in a Canadian hospital in Vietnam, returned home to urge Canadians to stop supporting what she deemed an immoral conflict. Joe Erickson was among 30,000 young Americans who evaded the draft by heading north, while Doug Carey was one of 20,000 Canadians who went south to fight. Rebecca Trinh and her family fled Saigon, joining the waves of Indochinese refugees who forged new lives in Canada. Through these diverse accounts, Boyko reveals the insidious nature of war, illustrating how leaders are convinced of its desirability, the public of its acceptability, and combatants of the normalcy of their actions. In uncovering Canada’s side of the story, he highlights the secret and forgotten ways Canada was shaped by the war's lies and consequences.