This book is about heroes, although most of them would protest to hear themselves so described. They are people who have become so concerned over global issues that they have quit jobs, challenged employers, given up high honors, jeopardized personal security and family relations, burned bridges, and risked ridicule. They are squeaky wheels and misfits in the noblest American tradition, and they have devoted themselves to fighting another American tradition: our zeal, often denied but more often demonstrated, to go to war.