Blood and Germs: The Civil War Battle Against Wounds and Disease (Medical Fiascoes)

Product Description

Acclaimed author Gail Jarrow, recipient of a 2019 Robert F. Sibert Honor Award, explores the science and grisly history of U.S. Civil War medicine, using actual medical cases and first-person accounts by soldiers, doctors, and nurses.

The Civil War took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans and left countless others with disabling wounds and chronic illnesses. Bullets and artillery shells shattered soldiers’ bodies, while microbes and parasites killed twice as many men as did the battles. Yet from this tragic four-year conflict came innovations that enhanced medical care in the United States. With striking detail, this nonfiction book reveals battlefield rescues, surgical techniques, medicines, and patient care, celebrating the men and women of both the North and South who volunteered to save lives.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up—Jarrow (Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary; The Poison Eaters: Fighting Danger and Fraud in Our Food and Drugs) provides another medical nonfiction work filled with viscerally repulsive images and facts. This book focuses on the death rates, diseases, and medical procedures of the American Civil War. One of the chapters, “Pus and Gangrene,” sets the tone for the content. This is not a title for the sensitive stomach, as there are photos of amputated limbs, gangrenous sores, and corpses. However, readers who are drawn to the drama of sickness, death, and war will find this a fascinating overview. Broader statistics are supplemented by quotes from diaries and individual biographies of soldiers, doctors, and nurses. Historical photographs and news excerpts give this a narrative nonfiction feel. Shorter chapters with section headings make this a less daunting read. Some of the vocabulary and content lean towards technical. Younger readers might get overwhelmed or confused with some of the medical terms and quotes from historical sources. Older children will appreciate the compelling study of a time period where chopping off limbs and putting live maggots onto rotting flesh were regular medical practices. Jarrow also notes the contributions of women and people of color during an era that tends to focus on white men. VERDICT A good choice for middle and high school teachers or librarians who want to update their history section with a lively and attention-grabbing resource.—Sara Kundrik, Gilbert Paterson M.S., Alta.

Review

★ “For those interested in the history of medicine or fascinated by the Civil War, Jarrow’s latest offering astutely combines both topics. Making outstanding use of period photographs, in-depth research, and firsthand accounts, this effort chronicles the inadequate, sometimes almost farcically deficient medical care delivered during the war. Highlighting primary topics in a series of brief chapters, it follows soldiers through the typical responses to being wounded (or falling ill), from frontline interventions through field hospitals, then, via torturous ambulance journeys, to immense pavilion hospitals that both Union and Confederate sides were forced to establish. Outstanding backmatter, more typical of what might be found in fine adult nonfiction, rounds out this stellar presentation. A fascinating example of excellence in juvenile nonfiction.”  
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review”Although the concern with viruses is now ever-present, Jarrow shows in this well-documented informational book how germs and disease also shaped the Civil War. Archival photos on almost every page and sidebars about individual soldiers make the accounts personal and more harrowing. A time line and extensive online resources complete this masterful look at early medicine.” 
—Booklist “Drawing from extensive archival sources, Jarrow (
The Poison Eaters) debuts her Medical Fiascoes trilogy by skillfully narrating Civil War stories of soldiers who died not from bullets but from diseases such as typhus, typhoid, tuberculosis, gangrene, and malaria, and of the doctor