Nothing inspires an enduring controversy as much as active draft resistance during the Vietnam War. A relatively small segment of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who avoided serving in the Army were active draft resisters, who stood their ground and openly opposed the draft, burning their draft cards publicly, and offered themselves to the legal and social consequences of refusing to serve in the military.

Appealing and effective; this book uses a plethora of anecdotes and then places them in context by providing a history of the movement. It is argued often that the widespread philosophical and legal support eventually forced the government to sit up and take notice. Many resisters eventually served time in prison rather than serve in the military, but they did change public opinion and popular perception of the war and the ways honorable people could behave in response.