During periods of intense conflict, either at home or abroad, governments enact emergency powers in order to exercise greater control over the society that they govern. The expectation though is that once the conflict is over, these emergency powers will be lifted. An Exceptional Law showcases how the emergency law used to repress labour activism during the First World War became normalized with the creation of Section 98 of the Criminal Code, following the Winnipeg General Strike. Dennis G. Molinaro argues that the institutionalization of emergency law became intricately tied to constructing a national identity. Following a mass deportation campaign in the 1930s, Section 98 was repealed in 1936 and contributed to the formation of Canada's first civil rights movement. Portions of it were used during the October Crisis and recently in the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2015. Building on the theoretical framework of Agamben, Molinaro advances our understanding of security as ideology and reveals the intricate and codependent relationship between state-formation, the construction of liberal society, and exclusionary practices.

Established in the 1940s, the Five Eyes intelligence network consists of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. The alliance was integral to shaping domestic and international security decisions during the Cold War, yet much of the intelligence history of these countries remains unknown. In The Bridge in the Parks, intelligence scholars from across the Five Eyes come together to present case studies detailing the varied successes and struggles their countries experienced in the world of Cold War counter-intelligence. The case studies draw on newly declassified documents on a variety of topics, including civil liberties, agent handling, wiretapping, and international relations. Collectively, these studies highlight how Cold War intelligence history is more nuanced than it has often been portrayed - and much like in the world of intelligence, nothing is ever entirely as it seems.