"In 1967, the respected Vietnam historian Bernard Fall warned that Vietnam 'is threatened with extinction [under] the blows of the largest military machine ever unleashed on an area of this size.' This remarkable study brings to life the courageous activists who sought to prevent this horrifying outcome with a principled act of civil disobedience, exploring the complex circumstances and consequences with rare sensitivity and insight." --Noam Chomsky
"Peters offers a rich and engrossing study of nine passionate activists who displayed their disgust with the war in Vietnam by destroying draft registration files in the Baltimore area. The book vividly depicts the lives of these men and women; who they were, what they did, why they did it, and the notable trial that followed their arrest. The Catonsville Nine is a valuable contribution to social and legal history; and an absorbing study, too, of the psychology, politics, and theology of protest and non-violence." --Lawrence Friedman, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
"The definitive account of 'arguably the single most powerful antiwar act in American history.' Well researched and well told, it reads like a thriller, with all the pain, drama, and power of the 1960s anti-war movement--but it's far more important than any thriller. Peters deftly takes us through the epic tale and trial of ordinary activists determined to do what they could to help end the U.S. war in Viet Nam, how they broke new ground in symbolic nonviolent civil disobedience, and sparked a movement that indeed helped end the war. Like Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters, The Catonsville Nine makes movement history come alive and pushes us to carry on their mission for the abolition of war once and for all." -- John Dear, activist and author of Living Peace, Jesus the Rebel
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