The great war and the birth of modern medicine A history

Thomas Helling, 1947-

Book - 2022

"The Great War of 1914-1918 burst on the European scene with a brutality to mankind not yet witnessed by the civilized world... Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of maimed, beaten, and bleeding men surged into aid stations and hospitals with injuries unimaginable in their scope and destruction... [This book] 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."--

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2nd Floor 610.9/Helling Due Apr 13, 2024
Subjects
Published
New York, NY : Pegasus Books 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Thomas Helling, 1947- (author)
Edition
First Pegasus Books cloth edition
Physical Description
374 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-311) and index.
ISBN
9781643138992
  • 1. The Fury of War
  • 2. Marcille, Mignon, and Verdun: The Peculiar Metamorphosis of Battlefield Surgery
  • 3. Deep Mischief Lurking: The Unraveling of Traumatic Shock
  • 4. "The Most Atrocious of Ills": The Great War and the Scourge of Gas Gangrene
  • 5. "Gas, Gas, Gas!"
  • 6. Rontgen's Rays and Petites Curie
  • 7. The Remarkable Harvey Cushing and His Journeys through the Brain
  • 8. Shattered Faces
  • 9. Owen Thomas, His Splint, and Nephew Robert
  • 10. Shell Shock
  • 11. Death Rides upon a Pale Horse: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
  • 12. And After the Dying
  • Acknowledgments
  • Bibliography
  • Endnotes
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

Acknowledging that WWI was a nightmare of madness and slaughter, surgeon Helling nonetheless credits the conflict for sparking advances in medical science and medical care of combatants. Helling envisions the battlefield as a kind of brutal laboratory for research and breakthroughs. In addition to injuries caused by artillery, soldiers fighting in the so-called Great War were threatened by chemical weapons using chlorine gas, phosgene gas, and mustard gas as well as infections from tetanus and gas gangrene. They were also susceptible to "shell shock" or PTSD. Helling presents stomach-turning descriptions of maimed soldiers and of how overwhelmed medical professionals were too often inadequately prepared to manage the carnage. Yet innovations and improvements in treatment, including the use of blood transfusions--design of protective mask respirators, development of mobile radiology units, enhanced wound care, and new surgical techniques, such as facial reconstruction and better management of fractured bones--arose in response to injuries wrought by the war. Helling also addresses the horrific impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic on those directly involved in the war and the world over.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.