On 7th January Lois appeared on Ireland's 4FM McGurk Show and discussed 'Telling Tales' with Derek Davis.
The book provides an intriguing account of how conscientious objectors to compulsory military service — who opposed the war because of religious, moral and political belief — were viewed and treated in England during WWI .
We all know stories about the Great War but these tend to focus upon soldiers and warfare. What I wanted to do in this book was to explore the ways in which tales could be told about the men who refused to fight.
Exploring the relationship between men, war, culture, patriotism and individual conscience, Lois draws on a range of materials and disciplines to produce this socio-cultural study. Sources include diaries, government papers, legal records, newspapers, magazines and novels, whilst the book is informed by writings from literary and gender studies, criminology, sociology, law and history.
The book, published by Manchester University Press, is available to order from Blackwells or Amazon.
You can listen to the 'Thinking Allowed' discussion on the BBC's website and to the 4FM McGurk Show interview here (12:09, MP3, 4.2MB)