Warming Up to the Cold War

'Warming Up to the Cold War is a tightly focused and beautifully written study of Canadian reactions to the myriad "emergencies" of the early Cold War period. Robert Teigrob argues - entirely persuasively - that the Gouzenko affair, the nuclear build-up, and finally, the Korean War were felt keenly by ordinary Canadians, so much so that they drove cautious government officials towards the alliance with the United States. Teigrob's revisionist discoveries are extremely important and restore agency to Canadians in the early postwar period. The book impressed me at every level and I enjoyed it immensely. The author has done us a great service in packing so much provocative analysis into such an accessible book.' -- Robert Wright, Department of History, Trent University

Comparing Canadian and American responses to events such as the atomic bomb, the Gouzenko Affair, the creation of NATO, and the Korean War, Teigrob traces the role that culture and public opinion played in shaping responses to international affairs.

When U.S. President Harry Truman asked his allies for military support in the Korean War, Canada's government, led by Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent, was reluctant. St-Laurent's government was forced to change its position however, when the Canadian populace, conditioned to significant degrees by the powerful influence of American media and culture, demanded a more vigorous response. Warming up to the Cold War shows how American cultural influence helped to undermine waning Canadian nationalism.

Comparing Canadian and American responses to events such as the atomic bomb, the Gouzenko Affair, the creation of NATO, and the Korean War, Robert Teigrob traces the role that culture and public opinion played in shaping responses to international affairs. With penetrating political and cultural insight, he examines the Cold War consensus between the two countries to reveal the ways that Canada cited "home-grown" rationales to justify its increasing subservience to American strategy and posturing.

Full of fascinating insights, Warming up the Cold War is essential reading for anyone interested in the Cold War, the role of culture in politics, and the history of U.S.-Canada relations.