These are people who have gone on to leave an important but often hidden trace in the moral and cultural life of Britain and beyond.
The story of the Second World War is usually told in tales of bravery in battle, or stoicism on the home front, as the British public stood together against the Nazi threat.
[An] excellent book... [Kelly] sheds light on a little considered aspect of the war
A moving tribute to moral courage, and a scholarly memorial of more innocent times
[Battles of Conscience] takes five pacifists...and skilfully weaves their stories into a broader narrative about how claims of conscience ruled the lives of the 60,000 British citizens who stood apart as conscientious objectors through [WWII]
[An] intriguing, original book... Kelly makes a fair case for...[the] importance in thinking through the collective and individual duties of citizens in a national public emergency
An intriguing, original book . . . Kelly is sympathetic towards but clear-eyed about his cast of characters . . . [and] their importance in thinking through the collective and individual duties of citizens in a national public emergency . . . questions which are hardly irrelevant in an age of pandemics, lockdowns and vaccine mandates
Tobias Kelly is Professor of Political and Legal Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh where his research focuses on the cultural history of war, violence and human rights. He has a PhD from the London School of Economics and has held visiting positions at New York University and the University of Oxford. He lives in in Edinburgh with his family.