Reginald Arthur Reynolds (1905 – 16 December 1958) was a British

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

writer, poet, a Quaker and an anti-colonial activist who collaborated with

M.K. Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Horace Alexander Horace Gundry Alexander (18 April 1889 – 30 September 1989) was an English Quaker teacher, writer, pacifist and ornithologist. He was the youngest of four sons of Joseph Gundry Alexander (1848–1918), two other sons being the ornithologist ...

. A

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, he was General Secretary of the

No More War Movement The No More War Movement was the name of two pacifist organisations, one in the United Kingdom and one in New Zealand. British Group The British No More War Movement (NMWM) was founded in 1921 as a pacifist and socialist successor to the No-Consc ...

from 1933 to 1937. He was perhaps best known as a critic of British imperialism in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and for his 1937 work ''The White Sahibs in India''. For many years he was also

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

's weekly satirical poet. He married the left wing novelist

Ethel Mannin Ethel Edith Mannin (6 October 1900 – 5 December 1984) was a popular British novelist and travel writer, political activist and socialist. She was born in London. Life and career Mannin's father, Robert Mannin (d. 1948) was a member of the So ...

in 1938."Mannin, Ethel" in

Todd, Janet M. Janet Margaret Todd OBE (born 10 September 1942) is a British academic and author. She was educated at Cambridge University and the University of Florida, where she undertook a doctorate on the poet John Clare. Much of her work concerns Mary ...

(ed.) '' British Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide''.Continuum, 1989 (pg. 441). He was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when he worked in

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

and in a mobile hospital unit.

Works

*''India, Gandhi and World Peace'' (1931) *''Police and Peasantry in India'' (1932) *''Gandhi's Fast: its cause and significance'' (1932) *'' The White Sahibs in India'' (1937) *'' Prison Anthology'' (edited with A. G. Stock) (1938) *''Why India?'' (1942) *''Cleanliness and Godliness: or The Further Metamorphosis. A discussion of the problems of sanitation raised by Sir John Harington, etc.'' (1943) *'' The New Indian Rope Trick: or What became of the debt?'' (1943) *''The Fallow Ground of the Heart'' (1945) *''Og and other Ogres'' (1946) with illustrations by Quentin Crisp *''The Wisdom of John Woolman: with a selection from his writings as a guide to the seekers of today'' (1948) *''British Pamphleteers'' (edited with

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

) (1948) *''Beards: Their Social Standing, Religious Involvements, Decorative Possibilities, and Value in Offence and Defence Through the Ages'' (1949) *''Beards: an omnium gatherum'' (1950) *''Beds: with many noteworthy instances of lying on, under, or about them (1951) *''To Live in Mankind: A Quest for Gandhi'' (1951) *''A Quest for Gandhi'' (1952) *''Beware of Africans: a pilgrimage from Cairo to the Cape'' (1955) *''My Life and Crimes'' (1956) *''John Somervell Hoyland'' (1958) *''John Woolman and the 20th century'' (1958) *''The True Book about Mahatma Gandhi'' (1959) *''The Loadstone'' (1960)

Notes

Biography

* Robert Huxter, ''Reg and Ethel: Reginald Reynolds his life and work and his marriage to Ethel Mannin'' (1992). Sessions Book Trust. * Autobiography, ''My life and crimes'' (1956)

External links

Swarthmore Archives
1905 births 1958 deaths British political writers British conscientious objectors {{UK-writer-stub Indian independence activists