A startling narrative revealing the impressive medical and surgical
advances that quickly developed as solutions to the horrors unleashed by
World War I.
The Great War of 1914-1918 burst on the European scene with a brutality
to mankind not yet witnessed by the civilized world. Modern warfare was
no longer the stuff of chivalry and honor; it was a mutilative, deadly,
and humbling exercise to wipe out the very presence of humanity.
Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of maimed, beaten, and bleeding men
surged into aid stations and hospitals with injuries unimaginable in
their scope and destruction. Doctors scrambled to find some way to
salvage not only life but limb.
The Great War and the Birth of Modern Medicine provides a startling
and graphic account of the efforts of teams of doctors and researchers
to quickly develop medical and surgical solutions. Those problems of gas
gangrene, hemorrhagic shock, gas poisoning, brain trauma, facial
disfigurement, broken bones, and broken spirits flooded hospital beds,
stressing caregivers and prompting medical innovations that would last
far beyond the Armistice of 1918 and would eventually provide the
backbone of modern medical therapy.
Thomas Helling's description of events that shaped refinements of
medical care is a riveting account of the ingenuity and resourcefulness
of men and women to deter the total destruction of the human body and
human mind. His tales of surgical daring, industrial collaboration,
scientific discovery, and utter compassion provide an understanding of
the horror that laid a foundation for the medical wonders of today. The
marvels of resuscitation, blood transfusion, brain surgery, X-rays, and
bone setting all had their beginnings on the battlefields of France. The
influenza contagion in 1918 was an ominous forerunner of the frightening
pandemic of 2020-2021.
For anyone curious about the true terrors of war and the miracles of
modern medicine, this is a must read.
