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

Telling Tales about Men 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.