Description: This study of caregiving during WW I looks anew at life behind the lines for ordinary British soldiers who served on the Western front. Using a variety of literary, artistic, and architectural evidence, Dr Reznick shows that Britain's 'generation of 1914' was a group bound as much by comradeship of healing as by comradeship of the trenches.
Brief description: Jeffrey S. Reznick is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Modern History of the University of Birmingham, a member of Birmingham's Centre for First World War Studies and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Review Quotes: "Reznick tells a fascinating story with verve and an eye for the big picture. This book makes a substantial contribution to war medicine and the cultural history of war."-- Joanna Bourke, Birkbeck College"A compelling inquiry into the care of wounded soldiers during the First World War. This deeply-researched book provides a new portrait of the 'men in blue'" -- Deborah Cohen, Brown University
""Healing the Nation" is an extraordinary exploration of how, following the devastation of World War One, Britain came to terms with the war wounded and how they came to understand themselves. Rarely has a study plumbed the subtleties of the self-image of the wounded victors. Any reader interested in the culture of victory as seen in the medical and cultural experiences of those damaged in war will learn much from Jeffrey Reznick's admirable book" -- Sander Gilman, St. Anne's College, Oxford
"This book is a path-breaking account of sites of healing in Britain during the Great War. It describes a trajectory followed by millions of soldiers from front line to recovery, and shows how medical care and comfort bound together soldiers and civilians through what Reznick terms a culture of care-giving. Rooted firmly in the pre-war Protestant voluntary tradition, this complex effort of restoration bore the imprint of the war machine and to a degree made it tolerable to those disabled on active service. Anyone interested in the Great War, and why it went on for so long, will find answers in this powerful and sensitive study." -- Jay Winter, Yale University
"As sensitive as it is scholarly, Reznick's account of the British culture of care-giving during and after the Great War meets a long overdue need. We know much about the physical and mental suffering inflicted by the war - about the effects of its 'technologies of killing' and its 'rationalizations of slaughter'. But when it comes to the pervasive humanitarianism that the war also inspired we have remained almost in denial. "Healing the Nation" is a dedicated exercise in the delicate removal of historical bandages and historiographical blinkers. Poignant personal recollections of care, compassion and camaraderie are but the half of it; exposed, as well, are the festering rivalries and frustrations among and between the secular and religious agencies involved. Around the provision of tent-huts, hospitals, and homes of recovery, Reznick lays bare the bountiful differences between the self-constructed images of the care-givers and the realities of their charity. Given the current 'crisis' in the practice and public representation of humanitarian aid, this is a not untimely intervention by a deeply committed historian-practitioner." -- Roger Cooter, University College London