Abstract
This interesting book is a true piece of medical historical and biographical research. Some years ago, Dr Alisdair Fraser came across a cache of letters to the editor of the St Mary's Gazette from St Mary's doctors who were away on war service between 1897 and 1945. Together with Dr Oscar Craig, a retired radiologist, he has edited this rich historical source and has provided brief biographies of their authors. Starting with the campaign in Benin, Nigeria, through the Boer War and the Great War, the series ends with the dropping of the atom bomb at the end of World War II.
The letters provide us with a vivid insight into the boredom, heat, cold, dirt, mud and fright of warfare offer through the eyes of young medical officers. In addition, they offer a brilliant lesson into the advances in military medicine over this period, from the development of inoculations against typhoid and tetanus, through wound excision and delayed wound closure, the Carrell treatment up to the early days of penicillin.
It is a volume that will appeal to all with an interest in medical history.