Product Description

The amazing experiences of the Queen Alexandra nurses in the World Wars is one of the greatest adventure stories of modern times, and -- incredibly -- remains largely untold. Thousands of middle-class girls, barely out of school, were plucked from sheltered backgrounds, subjected to training regimes unimaginably tough by today's standards, and sent forth to share the harsh conditions of the fighting services. They had to deal with the most appalling suffering, yet most found reserves of inner strength that carried them through episodes of unrelieved horror. Over 400 nurses died, torpedoed in hospital ships, bombed in field hospitals or murdered in Japanese prison camps. Dozens won medals for gallantry. From the beaches of Dunkirk, to Singapore and D-Day, they saw it all. Whether tending burned pilots from the Battle of Britain or improvising medical treatment in Japanese death camps, their dedication was second to none. This is their story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #224098 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-28
• Formats: Audiobook, CD
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD
• 1 pages

Valerie Grove, The Times
"Tyrer's prose, tripped of purple passage or poetic flourish, reflects a brisk journalistic commitments to gathering the last testimonies in a tale well worth telling"

Review
'If you're easily shocked, listen to [this book] with the lights on. This excellent, but uncompromising, amalgam of historical documentation, eyewitness accounts, diary entries and letters gives a fresh, often harrowing, perpective of the war.' (Who Do You Think You Are? )

'[This book] shows the nurses were just as heroic as the men whose wounds they tended... Absolutely inspiring.' (Kati Nicholl Daily Express )

'Barbara Flynn narrates with appropriate steeliness, while Sian Thomas gives distinctive voices to the many almost unimaginably brave women who did their damnedest, and more, to care for the wounded in appalling circumstances. It is a most impressive, humbling book.' (Sue Gaisford INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

'Becoming a nurse might seem a tamer wartime option than flying, but its perils were, if anything, greater... This is ultimately an inspiring, rather than depressing, tale.' (Christina Hardyment THE TIMES )

'Tyrer has knitted together the history and the nurses' words most effectively, and the combination of Barbara Flynn as narrator and Sian Thomas performing the words of the women makes for an audio tour de force.' (BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE )

'A different slant on the horror and heroism of war, Nicola Tyrer's fascinating story about the famous Queen Alexandra army nurses is the best history I've read this year. Great stuff.' (Sue Arnold GUARDIAN )

Virginia Nicholson, Evening Standard
"anyone seeking a definition of the genuinely heroic should read Nicola Tyrer's moving account of Queen Alexandria's Imperial Military Nursing Service"

Customer Reviews

A story finally told....
Finally a book that tells the story of the remarkable women nurses in WW2. From the first page the reader is immediately transported to the world that these women were part of. From their nursing training to the weird and wonderful details of their uniform.

If you think you know what nurses such as these did in WW2, then think again. The horrors they endured and the terrible situations they found themselves in will shock the reader and leave you with nothing but admiration for their spirit and bravery.

The book has plenty of quotes and paragraphs from the women themselves, and/or diary entries from that time. A few of the women are featured throughout the book, and the reader will find themselves taken vividly back to that time and seeing it all through the nurses' eyes and feeling like you are really getting to know these characters.
A superb book, and a very important book that anyone with an interest in WW2 should read.