Description
Book SynopsisThe First World War's appalling death toll and the need for a sense of equality of sacrifice on the home front led to Canada's first experience of overseas conscription. While historians have focused on resistance to enforced military service in Quebec, this has obscured the important role of those who saw military service as incompatible with their religious or ethical beliefs.
Crisis of Conscience is the first and only book about the Canadian pacifists who refused to fight in the Great War. The experience of these conscientious objectors offers insight into evolving attitudes about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship during a key period of Canadian nation building.
Trade ReviewShaw's mammoth research has produced a well-written study that looks at the conscientious objectors (COs) created by Canada's Military Service Act of 1917. Summing Up: Recommended.
-- J. L. Granatstein, Emeritus, Canadian War Museum * CHOICE, December 2009 Vol. 47 No. 04 *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1 The Responsibilities of Citizenship: Conscientious Objection and the Government
2 Days of Anxiety: Conscientious Objection within the Historic Peace Churches
3 An Insidious Enemy within the Gates: Objection among the Smaller Sects
4 Exemption from Religion on Religious Grounds: Conscientious Objection outside Pacifist Denominations
5 Holier than Thou: Images of Conscientious Objectors
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
