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Healing the Nation: Soldiers and the Culture of Caregiving in Britain During the Great War

(Paperback)

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Publishing Details

Full Title:

Healing the Nation: Soldiers and the Culture of Caregiving in Britain During the Great War

Contributors:

By (Author) Jeffrey Reznick

ISBN:

9780719069758

Publisher:

Manchester University Press

Imprint:

Manchester University Press

Publication Date:

30th November 2011

Country:

United Kingdom

Classifications

Readership:

General

Main Subject:
Dewey:

940.341

Physical Properties

Physical Format:

Paperback

Number of Pages:

192

Dimensions:

Width 138mm, Height 216mm

Description

Healing the nation is a study of caregiving during the Great War, exploring life behind the lines for ordinary British soldiers who served on the Western Front. Using a variety of literary, artistic, and architectural evidence, this study draws connections between the war machine and the wartime culture of caregiving: the product of medical knowledge and procedure, social relationships and health institutions that informed experiences of rest, recovery and rehabilitation in sites administered by military and voluntary-aid authorities. Rest huts, hospitals, and rehabilitation centres served not only as means to sustain manpower and support for the war but also as distinctive sites where soldiers, their caregivers and the public attempted to make sense of the conflict and the unprecedented change it wrought. Revealing aspects of wartime life that have received little attention, this study shows that Britain's 'generation of 1914' was a group bound as much by a comradeship of healing as by a comradeship of the trenches. The author has used an extensive collection of illustrations in his discussion, and the book will make fascinating reading for students and specialists in the history of war, medicine and gender studies. -- .

Reviews

'Healing the nation is an extraordinary exploration of how following the devastation of World War One Britain came to terms with the war wounded and how they came to understand themselves. Rarely has a study plumbed the subtleties of the self-image of the wounded victors. Any reader interested in the culture of victory as seen in the medical and cultural of those damaged in war will learn much from Jeffrey Reznick's admirable book.' Professor Sander L. Gilman, St. Anne's College, Oxford 'Reznick tells a fascinating story with verve and an eye for the big picture. This book makes a substantial contribution to war medicine and the cultural history of war. It has never been done in such a lively and innovative way before.' Joanna Bourke, Birkbeck College

Author Bio

Jeffrey S. Reznick is Deputy Chief of the History of Medicine Division at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, a member of Birmingham's Centre for First World War Studies and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

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