Originally published as: Surgeons in the field. London: Dent, 1970.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-238) and index.

'Glorious dead' and 'gallant wounded' -- Early military doctors -- Weapons and diseases -- Ambroise pare -- new principles and pity -- Leeches, blisters, bleedings -- Hunter and the Portuguese campaign -- Broken bodies, broken hearts -- Guthrie, McGrigor and Peninsular War -- Larrey, Percy and French humanity -- Illness at sea -- Wounds at sea -- The surgeon and service punishment -- Crimea -- administrative chaos -- Crimea -- regimental chaos -- Solferino and Henry Dunant -- American Civil War, Franco-Prussian War -- and massive casualties -- The limits of a surgeon's endurance: a navy/army contrast -- Development of the British Army Medical Services -- The Boer War and a harsh lesson -- First World War and the challenge to medicine -- Surgeons in the field -- What the sisters saw -- Second World War and doctors in the desert -- Sicily, Italy, North-West Europe: jungles and guerrillas -- Psychiatrists join the team -- The agony of Vietnam -- War in a cold climate -- Combate medicine in the gulf -- The lingering Gulf War

To the press, the politicians and the generals, the tens of thousands of wounded that result from a modern large-scale battle are thought of as "casulaties". To the dedicated surgeons, doctors and their staff they are individuals in need of expert help. Throughout history, Armed Services doctors have faced not only appalling medical difficulties: they have also had to fight apathy, ignorance and hidebound conservatism to win better conditions and treatment for the fighting man. Many have had the misfortune to serve during eras when soldiers and sailors were considered as expendable as the missiles they used. Here is the full story of military medicine - from ancient, magical remedies, boiling oil to cauterize amputations, bleeding and leeching, to anaesthetics, blood transfusions, plastic surgery and life-saving drugs, inoculations and vaccinations. The narrative ranges from the Middle Ages to the conflicts of Vietnam, the Falklands and the Gulf, and examines the role of the combat surgeon in the age of nuclear, biological and chemical warfare