Abstract
AEW Miles, The accidental birth of military medicine: the origins of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Civic Books: London, 2009, 213 pp. ISBN 978-1-904-10495-7, £40.00 (hbk), ISBN 978-1-904-10496-4, £20.00 (pbk)
Reviewed by : Alan EH Emery, Green Templeton College, Oxford, UK. Email: alan.emery@gtc.ox.ac.uk
The origins of military medicine and the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) are related here in a very interesting and well documented way. A number of individuals were involved but two played the most important roles: James McGrigor of the Peninsular War (1808–1813) and Florence Nightingale of the Crimean War (1854–1856). Both had been greatly impressed by the serious needs of wounded soldiers: care, nutrition and particularly the problems associated with poor hygiene. These matters had of course been noted by several others not associated in any way with medicine or the military. For example, Tolstoy comments on the appalling conditions of the wounded troops (Battle of Borodino, 1812) in his novel War and Peace. However, McGrigor and Nightingale examined the problems by enumerating them in detail and subsequently informed the authorities through their reports and the creation of Commissions. Furthermore it was also the time when University College and King’s College London were developing their schools of medicine. These various developments ultimately culminated in the establishment of the Royal Victoria Medical Hospital at Netley. Every ward had its own bathroom with water-closets, and it was the largest hospital in the world at the time it was completed in 1863.
This is a great read and can be highly recommended to anyone with an interest in military history particularly in regard to the RAMC.
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