1st Edition
Before My Helpless Sight Suffering, Dying and Military Medicine on the Western Front, 1914–1918
By Leo van Bergen
Copyright 2009
538 Pages
by
Routledge
538 Pages
by
Routledge
538 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Despite the numerous vicious conflicts that scarred the twentieth century, the horrors of the Western Front continue to exercise a particularly strong hold on the modern imagination. The unprecedented scale and mechanization of the war changed forever the way suffering and dying were perceived and challenged notions of what the nations could reasonably expect of their military. Examining... Read more
List of Illustrations, Acknowledgements, Introduction, 1 Battle, 2 Body, 3 Mind, 4 Aid, 5 Death, Afterword, Bibliography, Index
Biography
Dr Leo van Bergen is a medical historian working at the Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His main focus is on the relationship between war and medicine. Dr van Bergen is a member of the editorial board of Medicine, Conflict and Survival.
Prize: Dr J.A. Verdoorn Award for excellent scientific work on the topic of medicine and war 2009 ’Rarely has there appeared such a readable narrative on the heroic and tragic ways in which a war was fought and the dedicated yet at times inept ways in which medical workers attempted to tend the dying and treat the wounded.’ Medicine, Conflict & Survival ’... this truly beautiful and magnificent book. ... In short: buy, read and tell others.’ Menno Wielinga, published on the Western Front Association website ’The book is impressively well researched (and cited), including qualitative and quantitative sources in numerous languages. ... Before My Helpless Sight is a powerful counter to the innumerable discourses on WWI tactics and strategy. Van Bergen pulls back the curtains of glorious offensives and magnanimous generals, revealing the grim, muddy reality of life on the Western Front. It is a story of pus, rats, hunger, dirt, disease and madness. You do not know World War I before reading this book.’ War & Health ’... the book serves as a powerful reminder of the terrible human suffering endured, both during and after the war, by those who bore the physical, mental and emotional scars of the conflict. Van Bergen leaves the reader with an overwhelming sense of the human tragedy inflicted by industrialised warfare and mass killing.’ The Social History of Medicine ’The translation of this book from Dutch into English is to be welcomed for making available a Belgian viewpoint on the Great War. It is an accessible and engrossing, if at times gruesome and grim, read.’ Journal of Military History ’...an extraordinary volume describing the horrific injuries, deaths, and battlefield environments confronted by WW I soldiers... paints an almost unbelievable word picture. Recommended.’ Choice ’... a major achievement and a landmark in the medical historiography of the Great War.’ Medical History 'Van Bergen's pacing allows one to move
