Awards
A New York Times Notable Book for 2002
Washington Post Book World Raves 2002
South Africas Alan Paton Award Winner
Synopses & Reviews
The Dressing Station is a searing portrait of devastation on the battlefield that "illuminates the consequences of war and the ambiguities of relief work at a time when these issues couldn't matter more" (
Caroline Fraser, Outside).
From treating the casualties of apartheid in Cape Town to operating on Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq at the end of the Gulf War, Jonathan Kaplan has saved (and lost) lives in the remotest corners of the world in the most extreme conditions. He has been a hospital surgeon, a ship's physician, an air-ambulance doctor, and a trauma surgeon. He has worked in locations as diverse as England, Burma, Eritrea, the Amazon, Mozambique, and the United States.
In this story of unforgettable adventure and tragedy, Dr. Kaplan explores the great challenge of his career to maintain his humanity even when that option does not seem possible. The Dressing Station is a haunting and elucidating look into the nature of human violence, the shattering contradictions of war, and the complicated role of medicine in this modern world.
Review
"A unique mix of biography and reportage, both personal and clinical....[A] rare insight into the mind of a surgeon." Sue Cullinan, Time
Review
"Eloquent....Beautifully written....Provides a startling glimpse of battlefield surgery in those conflicts that CNN does not cover." Abraham Verghese, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Kaplan...has a keen sense of the smaller moments that leaven the agonies of daily life." Julian B. Orenstein, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"[A] confident, gripping debut....[A]t the heart of these beautifully written adventures, a rich human drama unfolds as Kaplan makes superhuman efforts to uphold the Hippocratic oath..." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"Kaplan has indeed led an exciting life, but there's just too much here to absorb; the book lacks a guiding thread." Library Journal
Review
"[R]efreshingly unsentimental....His descriptions of surgery are unflinching, and, while the narrative drags when he's away from the front line, he's never away for long. As a result, Kaplan gives us a remarkable self-portrait of the war junkie." The New Yorker
Review
"[H]is exploits as an aeromedical surgeon provide comic relief as well as occasional heartbreak. Knitting such episodes together are Kaplan's skepticism about governments and publicity-seeking organizations, rage at man's cruelty to man, and glancing humor. Remarkably engaging, though at times horrifying." William Beatty, Booklist
Review
"A surgeons graphic report on frontline medical work in one war-torn landscape of misery after another....Remarkable and God-awful." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Exceptional....[Kaplan] is unafraid to look within at his own fears and motivations....The Dressing Station encourages respect for the authors courage and wonder at the gift that can turn a bloody, messy world into writing that is so wonderful to read." The Economist
Review
"We all know that war is hell, but very few of us know that section of the inferno where the wounded and dying are taken. With his brilliant nonfiction debut, The Dressing Station, Dr. Jonathan Kaplan has remedied that....In composing this gripping memoir, Kaplan has performed a considerable redemptive act not only for himself, but also for the ones he lost and writes about so movingly." Michael Swindle, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Review
"The Dressing Station is a fast, gritty, shocking read, a parachute-drop of a book that is as fascinating as it is, at times, horrifying....Kaplans writing is spare, passionate, precise as the surgeons blade he wields." Robin Kirk, Raleigh News & Observer
Review
"For anyone who is interested in the practice of medicine beyond our shores, and the impact of conflict and poverty on the human condition, Kaplans book is a must. The Dressing Station is written with flowing prose and vivid description. He brings his story to a personal level, both from the physicians and patients points of view." Nancy Jacobsen, Rocky Mountain News
Review
"Kaplan has brought a clinical certainty to his reporting: he exposes the humanity of the most gruesome events with a few unflinching strokes and re-creates the drama of the worlds makeshift emergency rooms in deft paragraphs. As a result, his book feels very much a document of our times." Tim Adams, The Observer (UK)
About the Author
Jonathan Kaplan was born in South Africa. He studied medicine in Cape Town before specializing in the United Kingdom and America. After ten years of clinical experience and research work he left the secure career of hospital surgery to travel as a doctor, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. The Dressing Station is his first book.