By Ellen N. La Motte
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019
Ron Drees, Reviewer
Ron Drees, Reviewer
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| Nurses on the Western Front |
After reading this early 20th-century book, I am not sure that it's worth your time to read as it does not provide any new information to 21st-century readers. The book was originally published in 1916 and sold well because it provided information to readers about 20th-century warfare not available elsewhere because of censorship.
After the U.S. entered the war in 1917 The Backwash of War was banned by the Wilson Administration in 1918 for being anti-war. It resurfaced in 1934 but did not regain its former popularity. The Depression probably killed book sales across the board. The difference between this edition and 1916 is a new introduction, a biography, a newer story written after the first edition, and three essays published separately during the war.
The original book was 13 short stories telling the horrors of the war based on the experiences of a nurse at a French field hospital. Authoress Ellen N. La Motte was a highly trained public health nurse who volunteered for the war effort. As best as I can tell, she served for eight months in field hospitals with breaks for vacations in the south of France and Spain.
Later La Motte traveled to Asia and began a crusade against opium in Asia. Interestingly, her lifestyle was subsidized by an uncle, Alfred du Pont, the one who made a fortune selling gunpowder to the Allies. La Motte had no noticeable reluctance to accept his cash.
This book tells some horrific stories: a man dying of syphilis, a young boy killed by a carriage in Paris among indifferent witnesses, and others that are far from uplifting. Since WWI, we have had WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, and other small shootouts. The American public is very familiar now with casualties of war, and this book doesn't add anything new, as opposed to 1916 when such horrors were fresh and startling information.
If you read The Backwash of War, begin with the short stories, then continue on with the three longer essays before considering the biography and introduction You will not find the book to be particularly enthralling—just a depressing look as some of the bitter realities of war.
Ron Drees
After the U.S. entered the war in 1917 The Backwash of War was banned by the Wilson Administration in 1918 for being anti-war. It resurfaced in 1934 but did not regain its former popularity. The Depression probably killed book sales across the board. The difference between this edition and 1916 is a new introduction, a biography, a newer story written after the first edition, and three essays published separately during the war.
The original book was 13 short stories telling the horrors of the war based on the experiences of a nurse at a French field hospital. Authoress Ellen N. La Motte was a highly trained public health nurse who volunteered for the war effort. As best as I can tell, she served for eight months in field hospitals with breaks for vacations in the south of France and Spain.
This book tells some horrific stories: a man dying of syphilis, a young boy killed by a carriage in Paris among indifferent witnesses, and others that are far from uplifting. Since WWI, we have had WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, and other small shootouts. The American public is very familiar now with casualties of war, and this book doesn't add anything new, as opposed to 1916 when such horrors were fresh and startling information.
If you read The Backwash of War, begin with the short stories, then continue on with the three longer essays before considering the biography and introduction You will not find the book to be particularly enthralling—just a depressing look as some of the bitter realities of war.
Ron Drees
Those wishing to read a more positive review of the book may be interested in "Did a Censored Female Writer Inspire Hemingway's Famous Style." It can be read here: https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/articles-posts/6127-ellen-lamotte-s-the-backwash-of-war-did-a-censored-female-writer-inspire-hemingway-s-famous-style.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
ReplyDeleteIf this book (which I have to read after this review) doesn't add much to what we today know of the horrors of war, it may yet have particular value as one of the first to speak openly of these horrors. I've read several books on the brutal face of war as seen by medical professionals in Vietnam - Linda Van Deventer's HOME BEFORE MORNING jumps to mind. Perhaps Ms.La Motte's tale can be seen as a precursor? Maybe another question is: how much have we really added to what LaMotte described? How much have we learned in all those intervening years?
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