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A work written by a practising medical doctor that looks at the phenomenon known as "the irritable heart of soldiers". This condition, characterized by chest pains, palpitations, breathlessness, fatigue, syncope and exercise intolerance, first became an issue in the American Civil War, where it incapacitated thousands of troops. Using his expertise as a doctor, an academic and a former soldier, the author analyses the changing attitudes to this syndrome in the US and British Empire, in both a historical and a medical capacity. ... Read more

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The Irritable Heart of Soldiers
There are at most a few people that could have written a book with the multiple and distinct perspectives required to cover the topics addressed in The Irritable Heart of Soldiers and the Origins of Anglo-American Cardiology: the US Civil War (1861) to World War I (1918).Imagine searching for someone with a record of clinical investigation in cardiovascular disease, particularly the symptom complex and differential diagnoses involved in irritable heart.Require also a military background to understand irritable heart and its implications in determining a given soldier's battle readiness.Finally, this author must have the skills of a medical historian to reveal how evolution in the practice and infrastructure of medicine itself over time influenced the interpretation and management of a particular constellation of symptoms and disease entities.In this book, Dr. Charles F. Wooley draws on his experience in all of these disciplines to lead the reader through a fascinating composite of political, scientific, and personal narratives.

The book begins in the United States with the Civil War perspective. The author aptly quotes T.S. Eliot in surveying the surfeit of statistical analyses generated from Civil War records: "Where is the knowledge we have lost in the information?" [Eliot, `The Rock' 1934]One might argue that this question merits consideration by the clinical researchers of any era. We are led through a lifetime of influences leading to Jacob Mendez da Costa's landmark 1862 War Department communication entitled `On irritable heart' which served as an invaluable reference for successive generations of clinicians in the U.S. and abroad faced with caring for soldiers with similar history and physical examination findings.The author also retraces the mercurial career of William A. Hammond, from assistant surgeon to US Surgeon General to ignominious court marshall and finally to lasting success as an academician with a successful clinical practice; it is no surprise that his combination of insouciance and naivety continues to produce similar trajectories in medical careers today.

Dr. Wooley then takes the reader overseas to understand the 19th and early 20th century British soldier, with a treatise on the importance of the patient history.We learn how Sir Clifford Albutt played a pivotal role in the transition from reliance on pathology to justify a disease entity to a broader understanding of disease in terms of familial, temporal, as well as spatial perspectives. His under-recognized contributions are further highlighted in later chapters, including his observation that irritable heart of soldiers consists of a "group of symptoms [that] is too uniform to be fictitious or fantastic" [Albutt 1917].

We are led through a wonderful illustration of how technology initially developed for research finds its way into the clinical realm.The author deftly establishes how imperfect data coupled with inappropriate confidence in that data can lead to years of misdirected efforts; the French school of auscultatory misclassification of valvular disease "[inhibited] critical thinking about these physical diagnostic phenomena...for the next six decades" (Wooley p.123).Technologies that we now consider routine, the electrocardiogram and chest x-ray, revolutionized the diagnostic process; as the author observes, "cardiology can be divided into two major developmental period: before Einthoven and Roentgen and after Einthoven and Roentgen."Sir James Mackenzie's concerns that technology would erode practitioners' clinical skills have echoes in recent investigations; one hopes that he would find reassurance for his apprehensions in today's cardiovascular practice that still begins and ends at the bedside despite exponentially greater use of technology.

Early 20th century forays into the brain's connection to the cardiovascular system are retraced, including Weir Mitchell's stinging critique of his neurological and psychiatric colleagues of the late 1890s.With advances such as functional and molecular neuroimaging, 21st century practitioners in these fields are just beginning to gain the mechanistic understanding required to implement appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic strategies as Mitchell implored over 100 years ago.

No book covering any aspect of the medical history would be complete without reference to Sir William Osler.He linked what we would today call "lifestyle" changes with control of palpitations in an era that lacked fundamental knowledge of arrhythmias by advising "dietetic management with abstinence from stimulants, moderate exercise and cessation of smoking." (Wooley)Mackenzie resurfaces with the wisdom ensuing from the earliest specialty heart hospitals: "Exercise proved to be the only sound clinical test of the heart's ability to perform its work." [Mackenzie 1924]The book also offers detailed histories of World War I-era giants such as Clifford Albutt, Samuel Levine and Lewis Conner portrayed against the backdrop of unprecedented carnage from both battle and disease in a "pre-therapy war." (Wooley p. 264)

The final chapter brings together a vast array of seemingly disparate individual experiences and historical events in a construct that is surprisingly coherent to even the author: "what emerges is more of a medical continuum than the author expected when initiating the search." (Wooley p. 261)In this book, clinicians and clinical researchers at any stage of their careers will recognize elements of their own explorations in medicine, replete with discovery and confusion, tectonic shifts in practice and the individual practitioner's epiphanies that emerge only from careful analysis of individual patients. ... Read more

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A concise history of the origins of the -war to end all wars-Many of us know that the first world war began when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo in June of 1914.But have you ever wondered exactly what chain of events led up to the incident that caused the whole world to erupt into one of the bloodiest conflicts in our history?Why, amidst all the tensions in early twentieth century Europe, did this particular incident in Sarajevo lead to Austria delivering an unacceptable ultimatum to Serbia, which would lead to Russia mobilising in support of Serbia, Germany in support of Austria, and then France and Britain in support of Russia?Expert military historian and lecturer John Lee explains the causes behind the origins of the war and gives us a unique insight into the unfolding drama that defined and shaped a generation - and generations to come. This book gives an insight into:- The struggle to maintain the -balance of power- in a Europe convulsed with change- The crippling cost of the arms race to preserve -peace through strength-- The constant stream of crises as two ancient empires were about to unravel- The brash -new kid on the block- who decided that the old order had to go, and was just waiting for the right -excuse-. ... Read more

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Examines the causes, course, and social implications of World War I, as well as technological and strategic advances of the time. ... Read more

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A complete history of World War I, by Francis A. March, Ph.D., in collaboration with Richard J. Beamish, Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst. With photographs by James H. Hare and Donald Thompson, plus official photographs of the U.S., Canadian, British, French, and Italian governments. ... Read more

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The British Mark I was a tracked vehicle developed by the British Army during World War I and the world's first combat tank, entering service in August 1916, and first used in action on the morning of 15 September 1916.Born of the need to break the domination of trenches and machine guns over the battlefields of the Western Front, it was the first vehicle to be named "tank", as an expedient to maintain secrecy and to disguise its true purpose. It was developed to be able to cross trenches, resist small-arms fire, travel over difficult terrain, carry supplies, and be able to capture fortified enemy positions. It is regarded as successful in many respects, but suffered from many problems due to its primitive nature. ... Read more

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This book looks at the curriculum history of World War I, through a series of poems from the time. Each poem covers a different topic such as daily wartime living, life in the trenches and attitudes towards patriotism and religion. The backgrounds to each poem and poet is given, together with an explanation of what each poem is about. It also includes poems by Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke and WB Yeats. ... Read more

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This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Good-Bye to All That, the Guns of August, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, in Flanders Fields: the 1917 Campaign, Storm of Steel, Testament of Youth, History of the Great War, Germany's Aims in the First World War, Peacemakers: the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War, Ordered to Die: a History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, Vcs of the First World War, Castles of Steel, List of Books on Military Executions in World War I, Dreadnought, Infantry Attacks, Hussar's Picture Book, the First Day on the Somme, the Old Front Line, to Ruhleben - and Back, a Peace to End All Peace, Forgotten Voices of the Great War, the Red Fighter Pilot, Russia Leaves the War, War in the Garden of Eden, the Western Front. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: The Guns of August, originally published as August 1914 (1962), is a military history book written by Barbara Tuchman. It primarily describes the events of the first month of World War I. IT is a very indepth book of the causes and the actual battles of world war one. The focus of The Guns of August is to provide the history of World War I from the declaration of war through the start of the Franco-British offensive that stopped the German advance through France. In addition, the book provides a brief history of the plans, strategies, world events and international sentiments prior to and during the war. The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction for publication year 1962. The first five chapters are devoted to describing the major powers of the war (Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, omitting Austria and Turkey) and the events that led to the conflict. Tuchman describes in detail the socie...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=698994 ... Read more

Product Description
A complete history of World War I, by Francis A. March, Ph.D., in collaboration with Richard J. Beamish, Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst. With photographs by James H. Hare and Donald Thompson, plus official photographs of the U.S., Canadian, British, French, and Italian governments. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete history of World War I, by Francis A. March, Ph.D., in collaboration with Richard J. Beamish, Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst. With photographs by James H. Hare and Donald Thompson, plus official photographs of the U.S., Canadian, British, French, and Italian governments. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete history of World War I, by Francis A. March, Ph.D., in collaboration with Richard J. Beamish, Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst. With photographs by James H. Hare and Donald Thompson, plus official photographs of the U.S., Canadian, British, French, and Italian governments. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete history of World War I, by Francis A. March, Ph.D., in collaboration with Richard J. Beamish, Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst. With photographs by James H. Hare and Donald Thompson, plus official photographs of the U.S., Canadian, British, French, and Italian governments. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete history of World War I, by Francis A. March, Ph.D., in collaboration with Richard J. Beamish, Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst. With photographs by James H. Hare and Donald Thompson, plus official photographs of the U.S., Canadian, British, French, and Italian governments. ... Read more