The cancellation of the CF-105 Arrow in 1959 holds such a grip on the Canadian imagination that earlier developments in defence procurement remain obscure. Randall Wakelam corrects this oversight - and offers fresh insight on the AVRO saga and contemporary procurement issues - by revealing how cabinet ministers, chiefs of staff, and air marshals negotiated competing pressures to arm the air force, please allies, and save money during a decade when Canada's air force was growing by leaps and bounds. The result was the CF-100 Canuck and the F-86 Sabre, Canada's front-line defensive aircraft in the coldest years of the Cold War.