Telling Tales about Men: Conceptions of Conscientious Objectors to Military Service during the First World War

This book explores some of the ways in which conscientious objectors to compulsory military service were viewed and treated in England during the First World War. In doing so, it considers these men’s experiences, their beliefs, perceptions and actions.  Each of the six main chapters explores a different collection of ideas about objectors. Thus, they are, for example, portrayed as cowards, heroes, traitors, patriots, criminals, deviants, degenerates and upstanding, intensely moral men. Here the tales told draw upon sources ranging from diaries, government papers, tribunal records, newspapers, magazines and novels and are informed by writings from fields including literary studies, criminology, sociology and law as well as various branches of historical studies. Telling Tales about Men is essential reading for scholars in the fields of the First World War, pacifism, militarism and gender. It is also aimed at those with a general interest in the Great War and the military as well as in peace movements and pacifism.