Publisher and Publication Date: Basic Books/Hachette Book Group. 2020.
Genre: Nonfiction. History. World War I.
Pages: 353.
Format: Library hardcover binding.
Source: Self-purchase.
Audience: Readers of the history of medicine during war time. Readers of World War I history and medical practices. Readers with an interest of female surgeons and nurses during World War I.
Rating: Excellent.

Link @ Amazon.

Link @ Barnes and Noble.

(The second video is fascinating. About 13 minutes and 42 seconds in viewing length.)

My Review of No Man’s Land:

Recently I read a historical fiction story about two sisters who were in France during World War I. One of the sisters was an ambulance driver. The other sister was a nurse. That story left me wanting to know more. I wanted to understand what the nurses and surgeons who cared for the injured soldiers experienced, especially in regard to medicine and caregiving during World War I. I wanted to read a book with historical medical information and not the fluff of other things. No Man’s Land is an excellent choice!

The book begins with a group of women who are a medical team called Women’s Hospital Corps, and they have a goal of setting up a hospital in France in mid-September of 1914. The women are a mix of physicians, nurses, and orderlies. Money was quickly raised for the expense of the new group.

Upon arriving in Paris, France, they set up a hospital in the Hotel Claridge. Later, they relocated to the Chateau Mauricien. And within a couple of years, they would be established in the Endell Street Military Hospital in London, England.

No Man’s Land is several fascinating features in one volume:
1. The battles of World War I. This includes the lesser-known battles.
2. The historical facts relating to women who wanted to become a doctor. What they endured. Where they went to medical school. The strict boundary lines of who they were allowed to take care of-women and children only. The suffragist movement in London.
3. World War I changed social customs between men and women.
4. World War I made it possible for women to join the workforce.
5. The history of a one-of-a-kind hospital staffed only by women.
6. The continuing education and progressive practices of caring for injured. For example, dealing with infections, and the different types of injuries seen.
7. The German airship raids in London.
8. Shellshock.
9. Several personal stories of the soldiers. It is their testaments and not just the medical personnel that creates a heartbeat for the book.
10. The Spanish flu.

There are two female physicians who are the main characters of the book. Several other women doctors and nurses and medical staff are shared with their roles during World War I, but it is these two women who are the focus. Their names are Dr. Flora Murray and Dr. Louisa Anderson. There are brief bios on both of them at the beginning. They lived a shared life, not just as a medical team, but as life partners. The book never veers away from their work and towards their private life. What I am saying is they were dedicated to the medical field and in caring for people. I’ve read some reviews of readers who didn’t like the lesbian couple. This is ridiculous. In the book, that word is not used to refer to them. Their personal and private life in that regard is not remarked on except in stating they lived together, had two dogs, and wore rings. The emphasis of the book, and the emphasis of their lives displayed in this book, is caring for the wounded and sick soldiers during World War I. I say, God bless them.

Wendy Moore has written an excellent piece dedicated to the women who in some instances gave their lives for the care of the soldiers. If not in death, they gave up their civilian lives for the benefit of others.