No More Soldiering (Paperback) - Stephen Wade

The stories of those who refused to fight in the First World War

The enduring legacy of those who said 'No'. January 2016 marks the centenary of the Military Service Act, which brought in conscription after the large-scale loss of manpower in the major campaigns of the Western Front. The Act was to create a sustained and dramatic confrontation between the military establishment and the various groups of pacifists and conscientious objectors. Across the land, those who would not fight found themselves hauled before tribunals, standing before panels appointed to decide their fate - often prison or internment. No More Soldiering looks at the lives and experiences of those men and women who would not fight Kaiser Bill's army and suffered as a consequence, from Fenner Brockway, who faced solitary confinement in jail, to Ithel Davies, who found himself interned in Ireland. Being a 'conchie', it could be argued, was just as tough as facing the enemy in a trench.

About the Author

Stephen Wade was born in Leeds and educated at the universities of Wales and Leeds. He taught in further and higher education for many years, and this was followed by six years as a writer working in prisons. Her is a writer and historian having written over fifty books, mainly in non-fiction, and he also lectures part-time at the University of Hull.