Publication date:
01 February 2011Length of book:
256 pagesPublisher
Manchester University PressDimensions:
216x138mmISBN-13: 9780719082504
Through a series of thematic chapters, Julie Anderson explores the nature of injured and disabled bodies before, during and after the Second World War.
Beginning at the end of the First World War and finishing with the publication of the Piercy Committee’s report in 1956, the book examines medical practice, State support, societal attitudes and cultural meanings surrounding disabled war veterans and civilians. The book focuses on the embodied nature of the rehabilitative process, its gendered nature and the concentration on bodily fitness during the war. Using a series of case studies, this wide-ranging book seeks to understand the processes, methodology and practice of rehabilitation for those injured and disabled in war, and reflect on its adoption in post-war Britain.
War, disability and rehabilitation in Britain will interest historians of medicine, war and disability studies.
Julie Anderson is one of the leading historians working in the area of Disability Studies...This book is essential reading for anyone interested in military medicine. It directly addresses the debates about whether ‘war is good for medicine’... 'War, Disability and Rehabilitation' in Britain is a meticulous and often riveting story of pain,politics and rehabilitation.'
Professor Joanna Bourke, Social History of Medicine, May 2012
'a welcome addition to the growing field of disability history of early to mid-twentieth-century Britain ... informative reading for all students of disability history and rehabilitation.'
Dee Hoole, H-Disability August, 2013