Seeing Reds tells the story of a turbulent period in Canadian history, when in 1918-19 the Canadian government, fearful in the wake of the Russian Revolution, tried to suppress radical political activity at home by branding legitimate labor leaders as "Bolsheviks" and "Reds." Daniel Francis examines Canada's Red Scare in a global context, including government responses to similar activities in the United States and Europe, as well as its ramifications for the contemporary war on terror, in which issues of free speech and political dissent are similarly compromised in the name of national security.