Synopses & Reviews
The number of soldiers wounded in World War I is, in itself, devastating: over 21 million military wounded, and nearly 10 million killed. On the battlefield, the injuries were shocking, unlike anything those in the medical field had ever witnessed. The bullets hit fast and hard, went deep and took bits of dirty uniform and airborne soil particles in with them. Soldier after soldier came in with the most dreaded kinds of casualty: awful, deep, ragged wounds to their heads, faces and abdomens. And yet the medical personnel faced with these unimaginable injuries adapted with amazing aptitude, thinking and reacting on their feet to save millions of lives.
In Wounded, Emily Mayhew tells the history of the Western Front from a new perspective: the medical network that arose seemingly overnight to help sick and injured soldiers. These men and women pulled injured troops from the hellscape of trench, shell crater, and no man's land, transported them to the rear, and treated them for everything from foot rot to poison gas, venereal disease to traumatic amputation from exploding shells. Drawing on hundreds of letters and diary entries, Mayhew allows readers to peer over the shoulder of the stretcher bearer who jumped into a trench and tried unsuccessfully to get a tightly packed line of soldiers out of the way, only to find that they were all dead. She takes us into dugouts where rescue teams awoke to dirt thrown on their faces by scores of terrified moles, digging frantically to escape the earth-shaking shellfire. Mayhew moves her account along the route followed by wounded men, from stretcher to aid station, from jolting ambulance to crowded operating tent, from railway station to the ship home, exploring actual cases of casualties who recorded their experiences.
Both comprehensive and intimate, this groundbreaking book captures an often neglected aspect of the soldier's world and a transformative moment in military and medical history.
Review
"A singular work... Mayhew develops her unconventional history like a novel... Mayhew's exceptional presentation brings to life unforgettable struggles from a long-ago war, when common men and women rose to uncommon heights of bravery and compassion." --Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)
"These voices of battle-resigned, happy, content, afraid, and stoic-give us a history of World War I that we have never quite experienced. VERDICT: A fascinating narrative, taking readers beyond the battles in the trenches to the battles with life and death that followed." -- Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)
"Beautifully written, this harrowing trip to the trenches of World War I tells one of medicine's most pivotal chapters with the pace and tension of a novel." -- Discover
"This is a beautifully, heartbreakingly told book, extremely well researched, and timely for any time. It wasn't the war that ended all wars, but the view that Mayhew weaves of this war, and all wars, will stay with you." -- Philadelphia Inquirer
"This is a fascinating look at the World War I battlefield through the eyes of casualties and medics. Mayhew, an examiner at the Imperial College London School of Medicine who was unsatisfied with largely fictional portrayals of wounded soldiers and their caregivers, set out to construct a more fact-based historical analysis. It's an atypical narrative history, but it shines." --Army magazine
"Wounded combines a fresh-and vital-perspective on World War One, supported by an enviable depth of research. But what elevates Emily Mayhew's book above the many others on the war is the compassion, the well of emotional resonance underpinned by scholarship as easily accessible to the layperson as it is to the academic. It brings the reader closer to a visceral experience of the twentieth century's first and arguably most terrible world war and its lingering human cost. It should be on the bookshelf of anyone who wants to understand the Great War." -- Jacqueline Winspear, author of Maisie Dobbs
"A highly readable account... This is an engaging book, written in narrative style because many official documents about the care of the wounded were simply not thought worth keeping, so anecdotal evidence is paramount. They are voices that deserve to be heard." -- Daily Express (UK edition)
Review
andldquo;A vivid, riveting, true tale of courage and compassion. . . . I fell in love with Rags, and Iandrsquo;ll be first in line for the movie!andrdquo;andmdash;Maria Goodavage, author of Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Luccaand#160;
Review
andldquo;Simply brilliant. An inspired storyteller. . . . Those who consider themselves dog lovers should read this book.andrdquo;andmdash;Mary Elizabeth Thurston, author of The Lost History of the Canine Raceand#160;
Review
andldquo;Utterly charming, and if you love dogs, this will prove irresistible!andrdquo;andmdash;Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie about Loveand#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;A beautiful story, beautifully written.andrdquo;andmdash;Kristin von Kreisler, author of The Compassion of Animals
Review
andldquo;Many spiritual traditions condemn animals as lesser beings. But Rags and the other heroes of Hayter-Menziesandrsquo;s beautiful book show otherwise. Learn from this book and use its message to transform the world to a place where all animals once again live in dignity and freedom.andrdquo;andmdash;Gay Bradshaw, author of Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us about Humanity
Review
andldquo;This is an exciting, well-written, and engrossing book with all the elements that a reader hopes forandmdash;adventure, heroism, love, loyalty, and encounters with celebrities and historically interesting people. From Stray Dog to World War I Hero is a must-read for dog lovers and history fans alike.andrdquo;andmdash;Stanley Coren, author of How Dogs Think and Born to Bark
Review
andldquo;Among the recent books on the Great Warandrsquo;s long-neglected Eastern Front, this stands with the best. . . . Schindlerandrsquo;s comprehensive research and measured judgment combine in an admirably balanced account of the disaster that foreshadowed the end of the Habsburg Empire.andrdquo;andmdash;Dennis Showalter, professor of history at Colorado College and author of Hitlerandrsquo;s Panzers: The Lightning Attacks that Revolutionized Warfareand#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;As both an academic and practitioner of intelligence and war, John Schindler is uniquely equipped to tell the fascinating story of Austria-Hungaryandrsquo;s equivalent to the Battles of Marne and Tannenbergandmdash;with the roles reversed. With a great deal of detail and even greater empathy, Schindler brings both the heroism and blunders of the Dual Monarchyandrsquo;s doomed war effort to life. Both amateur World War I enthusiasts and specialists are forever in his debt for restoring the Battle of Galicia to its proper place.andrdquo;andmdash;Avi Woolf, English editor of MIDA.org.il and blogger for the
Times of Israel and#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;This excellent account of Austria-Hungaryandrsquo;s fateful role at the outset of the First World War highlights the insoluble dilemma of a two-front war against Serbia and Russia. The military proved unable to cope and suffered terrible losses from which it never recovered. John Schindler has done a superb job in reconstructing one of the least known military debacles of a century ago.andrdquo;andmdash;Gyandouml;rgy Schandouml;pflin, member of the European Parliament for Hungary and author of Politics, Illusions, Fallacies
Review
andldquo;Schindler has written a most exciting account not just of the Galician campaign of 1914 but of its significance for the collapse of Austria-Hungary during the First World War. . . . The unfolding tragedy of a million lives lost by 1918 due to military incompetence (not the nationality question) makes heartbreaking reading. Yet the reader comes away from this book astonished by the bravery of millions of men of a dozen nationalities, all betrayed by an ignorance of strategy, tactics and logistics at the very top of the imperial army.andrdquo;andmdash;Alan Sked, professor of international history at the London School of Economics and author of Radetzky: Imperial Victor and Military Geniusand#160;and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
Although southern Poland and western Ukraine are not often thought of in terms of decisive battles in World War I, the impulses that precipitated the Battle for Galicia in August 1914andmdash;and the unprecedented carnage that resultedandmdash;effectively doomed the Austro-Hungarian Empire just six weeks into the war.
In Fall of the Double Eagle, John R. Schindler explains how Austria-Hungary, despite military weakness and the foreseeable ill consequences, consciously chose war in that fateful summer of 1914. Through close examination of the Austro-Hungarian military, especially its elite general staff, Schindler shows how even a war that Vienna would likely lose appeared preferable to the andldquo;foul peaceandrdquo; the senior generals loathed. After Serbia outgunned the polyglot empire in a humiliating defeat, and the offensive into Russian Poland ended in the massacre of more than four hundred thousand Austro-Hungarians in just three weeks, the empire never recovered. While Austria-Hungaryandrsquo;s ultimate defeat and dissolution were postponed until the autumn of 1918, the late summer of 1914 on the plains and hills of Galicia sealed its fate.
Synopsis
On the streets of Paris one day in July 1918, an American doughboy, Sgt. Jimmy Donovan, befriended a stray dog that he named Rags. No longer an unwanted street mutt, Rags became theand#160;mascot to the entire First Division of the American Expeditionary Force and a friend to the American troops who had crossed the Atlantic to fight. Rags was more than a scruffy face and a wagging tail, however. The little terrier mix was with the division at the crucial battle of Soissons, at the Saint-Mihiel offensive, and finally in the blood-and-mud bath of the Meuse-Argonne, during which he and his guardian were wounded. Despite being surrounded by distraction and danger, Rags learned to carry messages through gunfire, locate broken communications wire for the Signal Corps to repair, and alert soldiers to incoming shells, saving the lives of hundreds of American soldiers. Through it all, he brought inspiration to men with little to hope for, especially in the bitter last days of the war.
From Stray Dog to World War I Hero covers Ragsandrsquo;s entire life story, from the bomb-filled years of war through his secret journey to the United States that began his second life, one just as filled with drama and heartache. In years of peace, Rags served as a reminder to human survivors of what held men together when pushed past their limits by the horrors of battle.
About the Author
Grant Hayter-Menzies is the author of several books, including The Empress and Mrs. Conger: The Uncommon Friendship of Two Women and Two Worlds; Lillian Carter: A Compassionate Life; and Shadow Woman: The Extraordinary Career of Pauline Benton. Pen Farthing was named the 2014 CNN Hero of the Year and is the founder and chairman of Nowzad Dogs, a nonprofit organization that reunites soldiers with the stray dogs and cats they took in during combat. Maj.and#160;Gen.and#160;Paul E. Funk II is a commanding general of the First Infantry Division in the U.S. Army and has commanded the Special Forces units with military detection dogs while in Afghanistan.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Wounded
Mickey Chater, Neuve Chapelle, 12 March 1915
2. Bearers
Earnest Douglas, William Young, James Brady, William Easton
3. Regimental Medical Officers
John Linnell, William Kelsey Fry, Alfred Hardwick, Charles McKerrow
4. Surgeons
Henry Souttar, Norman Pritchard, John Hayward
5. Wounded
Bert Payne, Montauban, 1 July 1916
6. Nurses
Jentie Patterson, Winifred Kenyon, Elizabeth Boon
7. Orderlies
Alfred Arnold, Harold Foakes
8. Wounded
John Glubb, Menin Road, 21 August 1917
9. Chaplains
Wilfred Abbott, Earnest Crosse, Charles Doudney, John Murray,
Cyril Horsley-Smith, Montagu Bere, John Lane Fox
10. Ambulance Trains
Nurse Bickmore, Nurse Morgan, Margaret Brander, Leonard Horner
11. The Station, Furnes
Sarah MacNaughtan
12. Wounded
Joseph Pickard, Moureul, Easter Sunday 1918
13. The London Ambulance Column
Claire Tisdall
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Notes and References
Timeline