Pacifism and English Literature

R.S. WHITE is Professor of English at the University of Western Australia. He has published extensively on Shakespeare and on Romanticism, and is the author of Natural Law in English Renaissance Literature (1996) and Natural Rights and the Birth of Romanticism in the 1790s (2005).

'R.S. White's thought-provoking book brings out literature's longstanding critique of armed combat as a way of resolving disputes...Written with conviction in the context of the West's shameful waste of life in Iraq...this reflective and wide-ranging book presents a timely reminder that war is always a choice. Literature tends to indicate that it is usually a poor one.' - Catherine Belsey, Times Higher Education (Book of the Week) 'A noteworthy book by a creative scholar.' - Choice 'A pioneering book and a conscientious work of conviction.' Australian Book Review 'The only areas where the study of peace does have an institutional base, in various academic departments of Peace Studies, tend to pay literature little attention. Here is the ground White aims to fill, in a wide-ranging book whose polemical energy aims at a wide audience but which has much to surprise specialists... a timely and thought-provoking book.' - David Norbrook, The Review of English Studies 'This is a timely and absorbing study. It will serve usefully as both a reference source for the history of pacifism in literary texts and an inspiring reminder of the wide range of pacifist sources, ideas and voices in literary history.' - John Goodridge, Key Words 'Pacifism and English Literature: Minstrels of Peace is a remarkable study, one that should be bought for every library. White manages to infuse into his discussion of pacifism the gentleness of deliberation, allowing space for readers to join him in his journey through the subject. But this book also foregrounds the urgency of the topic, which, in our present political climate, so badly needs to be considered.' - Philippa Kelly, AUMLA : Journal of the Australasian Universities Modern Language Association 'White's Pacifism and English Literature promises to be a touchstone... [and] sets the stage for future research on the interactions between literature and the peace movement.' - Philip Metres, Australian Literary Studies

• Acknowledgements Literature and Peace Studies From Minstrels to Martyrs PART ONE: PACIFIST PERSPECTIVES Sacred Texts Secular Texts, Humanist Pacifism PART TWO: A BRIEF PACIFIST HISTORY OF ENGLISH POETRY Medieval Pacifism Renaissance Pacifism Shakespeare's Pacifist Voices Romantic Peace and War Pacifism in Prose and Films A Plague on both your Houses: Air Control, Civilian Casualties and Twentieth-century Poetry Conclusion: 'Songs of such Exquisite Sweetness' Bibliography Index