Friendly Persuasion

Directed by William Wyler

by Michael Denison 6th November 2026

In October 1956, one of very few big-budget films portraying Quaker life was released. Friendly Persuasion is a family drama set in the US civil war, and explores that most enduring Quaker dilemma: whether to bear arms to fight injustice – in this case, looting and pillaging by the Confederate Army in its defence of slavery.