Download books » History, Military » Download EPUB The Roosting Box: Rebuilding the Body after the First World War

The Roosting Box: Rebuilding the Body after the First World War

The Roosting Box: Rebuilding the Body after the First World War
Date: February 20th, 2024
ISBN: 1773103261
Language: English
Number of pages: 280 pages
Format: EPUB
"A hospital … is like a roosting box: a communal space that provides ideal but temporary shelter for [the] vulnerable."

In the aftermath of the First World War, a cash register factory in the west end of Toronto was renovated to treat wounded soldiers returning from war. From 1919 to the 1940s, thousands of soldiers passed through its doors. Some spent the remainder of their lives there.

The Roosting Box is an exquisitely written history of the early years of the Christie Street Hospital and how war reshaped Canadian society. What sets it apart from other volumes is the detail about the ordinary people at the heart of the book: veterans learning to live with their injuries and a world irrevocably changed; nurses caring for patients while coming to terms with their own wartime trauma; and doctors pioneering research in prosthetics and plastic surgery or, in the case of Frederick Banting, in a treatment for diabetes.

Naming chapters after parts of the body, den Hartog chronicles injuries and treatments, and through the voices of men and women, the struggles and accomplishments of the patients and staff. The cast of characters is diverse — Black, female, Indigenous, and people with all sorts of physical and mental challenges — and their experiences, gleaned from diaries, letters, service records, genealogical research, and interviews with descendants, are surprising and illuminating.

An unusual mix of history and story, The Roosting Box offers deeply personal perspectives on healing in the aftermath of war.

Download The Roosting Box: Rebuilding the Body after the First World War




Resolve captcha to access download link!

Information
Users of Guests are not allowed to comment this publication.
RSS
2019-2024. All books on the site are laid out only for informational purposes.