Over the last five centuries, the development of modern weapons and
warfare has created an entirely new set of challenges for practitioners
in the field of military medicine. "Between Flesh and Steel" traces the
historical development of military medicine from the Middle Ages to
modern times. Military historian Richard A. Gabriel focuses on three key
elements: the modifications in warfare and weapons whose increased
killing power radically changed the medical challenges that battle
surgeons faced in dealing with casualties, advancements in medical
techniques that increased the effectiveness of military medical care,
and changes that finally brought about the establishment of military
medical care system in modern times. Others topics include the rise of
the military surgeon, the invention of anesthesia, and the emergence of
such critical disciplines as military psychiatry and bacteriology. The
approach is chronological--century by century and war by war, including
Iraq and Afghanistan--and cross-cultural in that it examines
developments in all of the major armies of the West: British, French,
Russian, German, and American. "Between Flesh and Steel" is the most
comprehensive book on the market about the evolution of modern military
medicine.