Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Prologue: The Shock of the Shell 1. Doctors' Minds 2. Shell-Shock in France 3. Trench Work 4. The Somme 5. Psychiatry at the Front, 1917-18 6. Home Fires 7. Europeans 8. Arguments and Enigmas, 1917-18 9. 'Skirting the Edges of Hell' 10. Inquests 11. 'Will Peace Bring Peace?' 12. The Lessons of Shell-Shock 13. Dunkirk, the Blitz and the Blue 14. 'We Can Save those Boys from Horror' 15. Front-line Psychiatry 16. New Ways of War 17. D-Day and After 18. A Tale of Two Hospitals 19. The Helmeted Airman 20. Learning from the Germans? 21. Prisoners of War 22. A Good War? 23. Vietnam Doctors 24. From Post-Vietnam Syndrome to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 25. 'When the Patient Reports Atrocities...' 26. From the Falklands to the Gulf 27. The Culture of Trauma Notes Select Bibliography Index
Ben Shephard's study of how war wounds men's minds, and of medicine's efforts to heal the damage done, is based on years of dedicated research. It is the best book I have read on the subject and it will endure. -- Sir John Keegan, author of The First World War
Ben Shephard writes widely on psychiatry and its history. He was a producer on Thames Television's The World at War.
Has the American counseling industry actually amplified the
difficulties of the Vietnam veterans?… By pulling more and more
terrified men away from the front during the first world war, did
the army only confirm to them the seriousness and irrevocable
nature of their hysterical conversion syndromes? These and many
others are the questions that are unflinchingly addressed in this
disturbing and original book. Ben Shephard, a historian and
producer of war documentaries, explores the psychic traumas and
dramas created during the two world wars and since… [His book is]
provocative, deeply shocking, moving and always compelling… This
reviewer, at least, hopes that it is widely read.
*The Economist*
Shephard’s engaging and impressively researched study offers a
detailed survey of psychiatric—and to a lesser extent, social and
cultural—responses to war trauma from the First World War to the
Gulf War of 1991… He ranges freely through British and American
material and manages to incorporate useful discussions of German
and French psychiatry as well… [Shepard] covers the medical
dimension with equal mastery and introduces a rich panoply of
psychiatric characters and movements.
*Times Literary Supplement*
Shephard didn’t write A War of Nerves with Iraq in mind; the bulk
of it focuses on the two world wars and Vietnam, with a short
section on the Falklands and the 1991 Gulf War at the end. But its
unflinching look at the awkward intersection of psychiatry and the
military offers a fascinating left-field perspective on war and its
hidden costs. Weaving together a panoramic array of source
materials (official reports, soldiers’ diaries, interviews with
doctors, Pentagon memos, snatches from novels and academic
treatises), he catalogs 20th-century attempts to lessen the agony
of war, at least for the troops—an unenviable task.
*Village Voice*
A War of Nerves is magnificent: expertly researched, richly
textured, nuanced where the nuances matter, brutally clear where
that helps… [T]his book will stand for what it is: an instant
classic. In the United States, there’s a saga, well embedded in
popular consciousness, of the nexus between soldiers, psychiatrists
and war-induced mental conditions… Mr. Shephard tells the story
brilliantly, this tale of mass insanity and petty personal
rivalries, of colliding morals and contending philosophies, and
their still incalculable effects.
*Washington Times*
Both a historian of psychiatry and a producer of documentary films,
Shephard brings finely honed skills from both fields to his book.
He matches his meticulously documented historical research with a
journalist/producer’s trained eye for the single detail, the
precise anecdote, the appropriate quote that tells a story. The
combination produces a fascinating and compelling exploration of a
complex and still-controversial topic that could easily be
ponderous and dull.
*National Journal*
A War of Nerves is a fascinating and harrowing book. It is a
history of what in the First World War was called ‘shell shock,’
that easy name for the complete ‘moral’ and physical collapse of an
individual soldier, and its reception by the military. [The
military was] apt to treat it with an accusation of
cowardice…prison or sometimes a firing squad… But Ben Shephard
shows that most of the twentieth century saw a campaign to find out
what causes soldiers to break down and to develop ways to help them
recover.
*New Scientist*
An impressive history of mental illness and its treatment during
wartime. Drawing on almost 100 years of medical records from
Britain, France, Germany, and the US, the author shows how military
commands consistently downplayed soldiers’ psychiatric problems… An
invaluable resource for doctors, scholars of war literature, and
military leaders.
*Kirkus Reviews*
[In his] ambitious study, bolstered by an impressive array of
sources…Shephard melds contemporary literary, military, and medical
documentation by offering a panorama of war neuroses with
conflicting schools of treatment. He suggests qualified answers as
to why combatants react differently to stress and discusses the
appropriate roles and investments of the military, government, and
society in the rehabilitation of those psychologically crippled by
war… This fine study should appeal to all readers.
*Library Journal*
Shephard emphasizes the importance of social and cultural, as
opposed to medical, responses to war stress: immediate local help,
given by those who understand concepts of military group bonding,
is crucial, underpinned by leadership and comradeship, dissociation
and displacement… It is an argument currently unfashionable, but
meriting correspondingly wide circulation and discussion.
*Publishers Weekly*
Ben Shephard’s study of how war wounds men’s minds, and of
medicine’s efforts to heal the damage done, is based on years of
dedicated research. It is the best book I have read on the subject
and it will endure.
*Sir John Keegan, author of The First World War*
Has the American counseling industry actually amplified the
difficulties of the Vietnam veterans? ...By pulling more and more
terrified men away from the front during the first world war, did
the army only confirm to them the seriousness and irrevocable
nature of their hysterical conversion syndromes? These and many
others are the questions that are unflinchingly addressed in this
disturbing and original book. Ben Shephard, a historian and
producer of war documentaries, explores the psychic traumas and
dramas created during the two world wars and since... [His book is]
provocative, deeply shocking, moving and always compelling... This
reviewer, at least, hopes that it is widely read. * The Economist
*
Shephard's engaging and impressively researched study offers
a detailed survey of psychiatric-and to a lesser extent, social and
cultural-responses to war trauma from the First World War to the
Gulf War of 1991... He ranges freely through British and American
material and manages to incorporate useful discussions of German
and French psychiatry as well... [Shepard] covers the medical
dimension with equal mastery and introduces a rich panoply of
psychiatric characters and movements. -- Paul Lerner * Times
Literary Supplement *
Shephard didn't write A War of Nerves with Iraq in
mind; the bulk of it focuses on the two world wars and Vietnam,
with a short section on the Falklands and the 1991 Gulf War at the
end. But its unflinching look at the awkward intersection of
psychiatry and the military offers a fascinating left-field
perspective on war and its hidden costs. Weaving together a
panoramic array of source materials (official reports, soldiers'
diaries, interviews with doctors, Pentagon memos, snatches from
novels and academic treatises), he catalogs 20th-century attempts
to lessen the agony of war, at least for the troops-an unenviable
task. -- Joy Press * Village Voice *
A War of Nerves is magnificent: expertly researched, richly
textured, nuanced where the nuances matter, brutally clear where
that helps... [T]his book will stand for what it is: an instant
classic. In the United States, there's a saga, well embedded in
popular consciousness, of the nexus between soldiers, psychiatrists
and war-induced mental conditions... Mr. Shephard tells the
story brilliantly, this tale of mass insanity and petty personal
rivalries, of colliding morals and contending philosophies, and
their still incalculable effects. -- Philip Gold * Washington Times
*
A War of Nerves is a fascinating and harrowing book. It is a
history of what in the First World War was called 'shell shock,'
that easy name for the complete 'moral' and physical collapse of an
individual soldier, and its reception by the military. [The
military was] apt to treat it with an accusation of
cowardice...prison or sometimes a firing squad... But Ben
Shephard shows that most of the twentieth century saw a
campaign to find out what causes soldiers to break down and to
develop ways to help them recover. * New Scientist *
Both a historian of psychiatry and a producer of documentary films,
Shephard brings finely honed skills from both fields to his
book. He matches his meticulously documented historical research
with a journalist/producer's trained eye for the single detail, the
precise anecdote, the appropriate quote that tells a story. The
combination produces a fascinating and compelling exploration of a
complex and still-controversial topic that could easily be
ponderous and dull. -- Mary Hager * National Journal *
An impressive history of mental illness and its treatment during
wartime. Drawing on almost 100 years of medical records from
Britain, France, Germany, and the US, the author shows how military
commands consistently downplayed soldiers' psychiatric problems...
An invaluable resource for doctors, scholars of war literature, and
military leaders. * Kirkus Reviews *
[In his] ambitious study, bolstered by an impressive array of
sources...Shephard melds contemporary literary, military,
and medical documentation by offering a panorama of war neuroses
with conflicting schools of treatment. He suggests qualified
answers as to why combatants react differently to stress and
discusses the appropriate roles and investments of the military,
government, and society in the rehabilitation of those
psychologically crippled by war... This fine study should appeal to
all readers. -- John Carver Edwards * Library Journal *
Shephard emphasizes the importance of social and cultural,
as opposed to medical, responses to war stress: immediate local
help, given by those who understand concepts of military group
bonding, is crucial, underpinned by leadership and comradeship,
dissociation and displacement... It is an argument currently
unfashionable, but meriting correspondingly wide circulation and
discussion. * Publishers Weekly *
Ben Shephard's study of how war wounds men's minds, and of
medicine's efforts to heal the damage done, is based on years of
dedicated research. It is the best book I have read on the subject
and it will endure. -- Sir John Keegan, author of The First
World War
Shephard's ambitious study, bolstered by an impressive array of sources diaries, medical case studies, patient interviews, official publications, and physician reports chronicles military psychiatry in the 20th century. It begins at the chronological intersection of modern warfare and psychological medicine during the Great War and examines this troubled marriage through the periods of shell-shock (World War I), combat fatigue (World War II), and post-traumatic stress disorder (Vietnam, Falkland campaign, and the Gulf War). Shephard melds contemporary literary, military, and medical documentation by offering a panorama of war neuroses with conflicting schools of treatment. He suggests qualified answers as to why combatants react differently to stress and discusses the appropriate roles and investments of the military, government, and society in the rehabilitation of those psychologically crippled by war. The author, a former producer of "The World at War" series, concludes that perhaps "military psychiatry is often done best not by psychiatrists but by doctors, officers, or soldiers who understand the principles of group psychology and use the defenses in culture to help people through traumatic situations." This fine study should appeal to all readers. Recommended for psychology, psychiatry, and medical history collections, as well as for large public and academic libraries. John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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