Healing the Nation: Soldiers and the Culture of Caregiving in Britain during the Great War

Jeffrey S. Reznick, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004. Pp. xii+172. £35.00 (hbk). ISBN 0–7190–6974–2. Despite what appears to be an endless number of books on the subject, the First World War continues to fascinate historians and general readers alike. Fortunately, historians are still finding ways to make the subject interesting through a re-examination of myriad sources and by using different types of evidence. Jeffrey Reznick's book does both in focusing on the culture of caregiving during the Great War. Caregiving, as defined by Reznick, encompasses the work of health institutions and organizations, medical knowledge, and the complex social relationships, both institutional and individual, that weave each of these together within the war machine. The book covers a very broad range of sites of caregiving, from rest-huts for the combat-fatigued to hospitals designed to restore disabled ex-servicemen as productive workers. The first chapter focuses on the role of church groups such as the YMCA, the Salvation Army, and the Church Army, and the provision of rest huts for battle-weary soldiers. Not only did these groups supply comforts, such as a restful and welcoming home away from home atmosphere in the midst of the madness of trench warfare, they also provided caregiving in the form of moral teaching, games, and activities and created an alternative to the less healthy activity of visiting brothels.