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Veiled Warriors

Allied Nurses of the First World War

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Veiled Warriors

By: Christine E. Hallett
Narrated by: Elizabeth Jasicki
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About this listen

Caring for the wounded of the First World War was tough and challenging work, demanding extensive knowledge, technical skill, and high levels of commitment. Although allied nurses were admired in their own time for their altruism and courage, their image was distorted by the lens of popular mythology. They came to be seen as self-sacrificing heroines, romantic foils to the male combatant and doctors' handmaidens, rather than being appreciated as trained professionals performing significant work in their own right. Christine Hallett challenges these myths to reveal the true story of allied nursing in the First World War - one which is both more complex and more absorbing.

Drawing upon evidence from archives across the world, Veiled Warriors offers a compelling account of nurses' wartime experiences and a clear appraisal of their work and its contribution to the allied cause between 1914 and 1918, on both the Western and the Eastern Fronts. Nurses believed they were involved in a multi-layered battle. Primarily, they were fighting for the lives of their patients on the "second battlefield" of casualty clearing stations, transports, and military hospitals. Beyond this, they were an integral component of the allied military machine, putting their own lives at risk in field hospitals close to the front lines, on board hospital ships vulnerable to enemy submarine attack, and in base hospitals subject to heavy bombardment.

As working women in a sometimes hostile, chauvinistic world, allied nurses were also fighting to gain recognition for their profession and political rights for their sex. For them, military nursing might help to win not only the war itself, but also a more powerful voice for women in the post-war world.

©2014 Christine E. Hallett (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Great Britain History & Commentary Medicine & Health Care Industry Military United States War England Hospital Imperialism

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Veiled Warriors

What did you like most about Veiled Warriors?

It traversed the records of a range of nurses' experiences in WWI in relation to the main theatres of the war.

What did you like best about this story?

The extracts from the nurses' diaries and letters.

Would you be willing to try another one of Elizabeth Jasicki’s performances?

Maybe - as I have worked out how to minimise her pedantic narration and condescending pronunciations - speed it up a little. The narration was irritating until I did this and then I was able to settle in and listen more easily.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - its not that type of book. It does take some copncentration so as not to miss content detail.

Any additional comments?

This book is a good overview and covers some of the issues. I found a little repetition here and there which may not have been picked up if reading it.

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