Medicine and Victory British Military Medicine in the Second World War [Paperback]

Medicine and Victory is the first comprehensive account of British military medicine in the Second World War since the publication of the official history in the early 1950s. Drawing on a wide range of official and non-official sources, the book examines medical work in all the main theatres of the war, from the front line to the base hospital. All aspects of medical work are covered, including the prevention of disease, and the disposal and treatment of casualties.

Harrison argues that the medical services played a major role in the Allied victory enabling the British Army to keep a higher proportion of troops in the field than its opponents. Assuming no previous knowledge of either medical or military history,Medicine and Victoryprovides an accessible introduction to a vitally important, yet too often neglected aspect of the Second World War.

Introduction
1. A Medical Service for a Modern Army?
2. Medicine in Retreat 1940-2
3. The Western Desert 1940-3
4. North Africa, Sicily, and Italy
5. Burma and North-East India
6. Medicine Victorious: North-West Europe 1944-5
Conclusion
Bibliography

Harrison's writing about the fighting is gripping and the importance of medical developments is deftly interwoven with the wider campaigns. The book succeeds in throwing light, not just on the history of medicine during the Second World War, but also on the dual focus of health and medicine--the rise of high tech medicine and the transformation of social medicine--during the immediate post war years. --Virginia Berridge,Twentieth Century British History