An absorbing account of how American medicine was changed forever by the efforts to bring good medical care to men on the battlefields of the Civil War. Rutkow (Clinical Surgery/Univ. of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey), the author of several histories of surgery, focuses here on medical care on the Union side during the Civil War, for it was the Northern experience, he notes, that most affected the future practice of American medicine. He paints a vivid picture of the state of medicine before the war, when medical schooling was haphazard, a hodgepodge of therapies vying for supremacy. While no great scientific innovations occurred during the Civil War era--germ theory came later, and anesthesia was still largely unavailable--the war brought discipline and standards to a fractious profession and transformed the administration and organization of military medical care. In particular, Rutkow tells the story of the powerful United States Sanitary Commission, a civilian relief agency established at the start of the war. Under the guidance of Frederick Law Olmstead, the Commission set standards for military camp sanitation, advocated an independent ambulance service, and fought for a strong Surgeon General, William Hammond. Among Hammond's successes was the reform of the US Army's Medical Department and the redesign of military hospitals, changing forever the public's notion of what a hospital could be. While Rutkow captures the sweep of action on battlefields and the bloody aftermath of battles, he also reveals the political infighting that went on at the same time. His cast includes politicians with personal grievances, generals with petty animosities, doctors and nurses with ambitions and jealousies, and, of course, soldiers with gruesome wounds. Great storytelling that both Civil War buffs and fans of medical history will surely relish. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this compelling story of the evolution of surgery, medicine, and public health during the US Civil War, noted Civil War medical historian and clinical professor of surgery Rutkow (Univ. of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) skillfully weaves together a number of themes: the horrors of Civil War battlefields with their tens of thousands of injured and dying soldiers; and the political machinations of Lincoln's secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, various surgeons general, and Frederick Law Olmsted, of the privately operated US Sanitary Commission, to establish a coordinated and effective army ambulance corps, field hospitals, and delivery of needed medical equipment and supplies to the battlefields. Rutkow meticulously details the role of the Civil War in transforming the administration and organization of military medical care, the creation of the modern hospital, and the establishment of the nation's first quality standards for surgeons. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Civil War buffs, medical history scholars, and general readers. R. M. Mullner University of Illinois at Chicago

This is different from other recent histories that focus on medicine during the war (Alfred Jay Bollet's Civil War Medicine; Frank R. Freemon's Gangrene and Glory) because it also reviews political and social changes that had significant impact upon war medicine. Rutkow (surgery, Univ. of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey; Surgery: An Illustrated History) is a respected expert on the history of American surgery whose work has been mainly in the area of Civil War medicine. Rutkow particularly highlights the work of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and its role in the war. Owing to limited sources, he does not spend much time on Confederate medicine. While the text is accessible to the casual reader, this book is written for students of the war and those interested in the history of medicine. For general and academic libraries.-Eric D. Albright, Tufts Univ. Health Sciences Lib., Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

During a 39-day period in the spring of 1865, 45,000 Union soldiers were killed or wounded. The wounded received the best care available at the time-care that by current standards is horrifying. In this fast-moving and informative book, Rutkow (Surgery: An Illustrated History) recreates the experience of the common Civil War soldier: it "was more sharply defined by agony, butchery, and loneliness than anything else." Simple gunshot wounds necessitated amputation; lack of antiseptics meant more soldiers died from postoperative infection than from their wounds. Communicable diseases ravaged the armies on both sides of the conflict. Rutkow charts the progress of the military medical system during the course of the war, focusing on the struggles (against political opposition) of Sanitary Commission director Frederick Law Olmsted to establish a humane and scientific system of care for the fallen. As Rutkow shows, such medical developments as the construction of hospitals and the specialization of surgery aided in the "professionalization of American medicine." With plenty of historical context, Rutkow's book should appeal beyond hardcore Civil War aficionados to a larger readership interested in a gritty, compelling story well told. 16 pages of photos not seen by PW. Agent, Janklow & Nesbit. (On sale Apr. 19) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved