ANGELS OF MERCY

[alf mcm]

I have just purchased this book 'Angels of Mercy', subtitled 'A Women's Hospital on the Western Front', by Eileen Crofton, and published by Birlinn Ltd.. This is actually a revised {and shorter} edition of 'The Women of Royaumont: A Scottish Women's Hospital on the Western Front', first published in 1997. The fact this is a revised edition is not mentioned on the cover, so may mislead some people. Nevertheless, a quick glance through about 300 pages shows that it promises to be a very interesting read,

Regards,

Alf McM

[chrissparrow]

Thanks Alf,

Is either book properly indexed?

Chris

[alf mcm]

Chris,

The index to Angels of Mercy covers 6 pages.Presumably the index to the earlier edition was a bit longer. The mention of Angels of Mercy being an edited version of The Women of Royaumont.... appears in the preface to the Second Edition, which was written {the preface} by the author's daughter.

Regards,

Alf McM

[Sue Light]

I've got a copy of the original, though hard to compare the length of index as the format of the book is quite different. Mine is just four and a half pages, so I would assume they are identical. But what a great pity that this new edition has been given such a dreadful sensationalist title - yet another instance of labelling professional women as mythical creatures in case they might be too hard to handle just as they are.

Having said that, Eileen Crofton wrote a great book, a straightforward, factual account, with lots of detail and cameos of the women who worked there, and certainly one of the best depictions of women during the Great War.

Sue