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Give Me Shelter
The Failure of Canada’s Cold War Civil Defence
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Andrew Burtch
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2012
About this book
How could you and your family survive a nuclear war? From 1945 to 1963, the Canadian government developed civil defence plans to save lives in bombed cities, evacuate target areas, and encouraged the public to build basement fallout shelters. By the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the civil defence program was widely mocked, and the public was still vastly unprepared for nuclear war. Give Me Shelter features recently released documents detailing Canada’s nuclear survival plans. Andrew Burtch reveals how, through public appeals, the department urged citizens to assume responsibility for disaster preparation, a tactic that ultimately failed. An exposé of the challenges of educating the public on the threat of nuclear annihilation, this book illuminates Canada’s Cold War home front like never before.
Author / Editor information
Andrew Burtch is the historian for the post-1945 period at the Canadian War Museum.
Reviews
Luckily, the Soviets never did bomb us or we would not be around to read Give Me Shelter, an extremely detailed and shocking analysis of how a government and its people failed to connect and collaborate on one of the most important issues facing the world during the Cold War … the book is scarier than science fiction because it shows how unprepared we were to save our own skin had the Russians ever decided to attack.
Topics
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Front Matter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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List of Illustrations
ix -
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Acknowledgments
xi -
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Abbreviations
xv -
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Introduction
1 -
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From World War to Cold War, 1945–50
15 -
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The Korean War and the Trouble with Civil Defence, 1950–53
37 -
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Publicizing Armageddon: Responsible Citizenship and Civil Defence, 1948–54
58 -
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Evacuation and Celebration, 1954–56
77 -
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Emergency Measures, 1957–59
110 -
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The Survival Army, 1959–62
130 -
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The Path to a Shelter Program, 1949–59
156 -
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Irresponsible Citizens, 1959–62
174 -
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Cuba, Confusion, and Retreat, 1962–68
205 -
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Conclusion
219 -
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Notes
226 -
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Bibliography
263 -
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Index
272 -
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Studies in Canadian Military History
279
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
August 9, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780774822428
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
300
eBook ISBN:
9780774822428
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
