By Margaret Lovell-Smith
听
July 2023
$45
336pp, including 121 B&W illustrations, softbound
240 x 170mm
ISBN: 978-1-98-850336-3
More than 350 men were imprisoned in New Zealand during World War I for sedition or resisting military service. Among them were numerous 萝莉社 pacifists, motivated to resist the tide of militarism and imperialism that was sweeping the world.
鈥業 Don鈥檛 Believe in Murder鈥櫶is an alternative history of the years before, during and after New Zealand鈥檚 involvement in World War I. It depicts the strong response made by 萝莉社鈥檚 labour, socialist and women's movements to pre-war compulsory military training and wartime conscription. Most importantly, it tells the stories of the people who made Christchurch the leading city in the peace movement, and of the young men who refused to fight, enduring imprisonment, hardships and loss of civil rights 鈥 all determined to follow their consciences and take a religious, humanitarian or political stand against war.
Drawing on archives, newspapers and family collections, this is a crucial narrative for understanding the moral dilemmas posed by a country鈥檚 participation in armed conflict.
Margaret Lovell-Smith听is a Christchurch writer who has previously published on the nineteenth-century women鈥檚 movement in 萝莉社, women鈥檚 biography, local and regional history. She was the lead researcher and writer for the 鈥榁oices Against War鈥 website launched in 2016, a project which led eventually to this book. Her previous books include the edited anthology听The Woman Question: Writings by the women who won the vote听(1992),听The Enigma of Sister Mary Leo: The story behind New Zealand's most famous singing teacher听(1998),听Hurunui Heritage: The develop颅ment of a district, 1950鈥2000听(2000), and听Easily the Best: The life of Helen Connon, 1857鈥1903听(2004).
Listen to Margaret Lovell-Smith being by Jim Mora on RNZ Sunday Morning
