Read all about it!
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If you would like to read more about the history of nursing, particularly the military nursing services, the following list should give some ideas. Many of the books are available through libraries, second-hand bookshops across the country, and online. Most of the books relate specifically to the history of nursing in general, and the military nursing services in particular. I've included some memoirs and private accounts, but be warned that a few of these contain a lot of one-sided comment and inaccuracy - reader enjoy, but beware!
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Military Nursing
Angels and Citizens - British Women as Military Nurses 1854-1914; Anne Summers; Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps; Juliet Piggott; Famous Regiments Series, Leo Cooper Ltd., 1975
One Hundred Years of Army Nursing ; Ian Hay [Sir John Hay Beith, CBE MC] Cassell and Co., 1953
Sub Cruce Candida - A celebration of one hundred years of Army Nursing 1902-2002; QARANC Association 2002
Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service; Kathleen Harland; G. Shepherd (Portsmouth) Ltd.
The British Nurse in Peace and War; Elizabeth S. Haldane; J. Murray, 1913
For Dauntless France - An Account of Britain's Aid to the French Wounded and Victims of War; Laurence Binyon; Hodder and Stoughton, 1918
Wartime Nurse - One Hundred Years from the Crimea to Korea 1854-1954; Eric Taylor Robert Hale 2001
Front-Line Nurse - British Nurses in World War II; Eric Taylor; Robert Hale 1997
The Roses of No Man's Land; Lyn Macdonald; Michael Joseph Ltd., 1980
It's a Long Way to Tipperary; British and Irish Nurses in the Great War; Yvonne McEwen; Cualann Press, 2006
Working for Victory? - Images of women in the First World War 1914-1918; Diana Condell and Jean Liddiard; Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987
Women at War 1914-1918; Arthur Marwick; Fontana, 1977
Nurses at War; Women on the Frontline 1939-45; Penny Starns; Sutton Publishing, 2000
Grey and Scarlet - Letters from the war areas by army sisters on active service; Hodder and Stoughton, 1944
The Quality of Mercy - Women at War Serbia 1915-18; Monica Krippner; David & Charles, 1980
Hospital Ships and Ambulance Trains; John H. Plumridge; Seeley, Service & Co., 1975
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History of Nursing
A History of the Nursing Profession; Brian Abel-Smith; Heinemann, 1960
A General History of Nursing; Lucy Seymer; Faber & Faber 1932
The Story of the Growth of Nursing; Agnes E. Pavey; Faber & Faber 1938
Nursing and Social Change; Monica Baly; William Heinemann Medical, Ltd., 1973
New Zealand Military Nursing - A History of the RNZNC Boer War to Present Day; Sherayl Kendall & David Corbett; pub. by the authors, 1990
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Personal Accounts and Memoirs
Reminiscent Sketches 1914 to 1919 - by members of Her Majesty Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service; John Bale, Sons & Danielsson, Ltd., 1922
Unknown Warriors; Katherine [Kate] Luard; Chatto & Windus; 1930
Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front 1914-1915; published anonymously by William Blackwood in 1915, but since attributed to Katherine Luard.
The Will to Live - The Story of Dame Margot Turner, D.B.E., R.R.C.; Sir John Smyth; Cassell, 1970
Sister in Arms - British Army Nurses Tell Their Story; Nicola Tyrer; Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2008
Testament of Youth - An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-25; Vera Brittain Various publishers over many editions
Chronicle of Youth - Vera Brittain's War Diary 1913-1917; Ed. Alan Bishop and Terry Smart; Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1981
Spike Island - The Memory of a Military Hospital; Philip Hoare; Fourth Estate, 2001
The Maturing Sun - An Army Nurse in India, 1942-45; Angela Bolton; xxxxxxx Imperial War Museum, 1986
A V.A.D. in France, Olive Dent; Grant Richards Ltd., 1917
A Diary Without Dates; Enid Bagnold; William Heinemann, 1917
A Nurse's War - Brenda McBryde; Chatto and Windus, 1979
Quiet Heroines - Brenda McBryde; Chatto and Windus, 1985 - both these last two books relate to Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service during the Second World War.
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For more information about nursing in the Army, try a visit to
The site is full of information about the history the nursing service and how it developed, right through to the present day. It includes information on hospitals, books, merchandise, and a section on how to trace friends and colleagues who you might have lost touch with. And if you're looking for a career opportunity and want to join, find out how!
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