Exerpts from long out of print memoirs of two American nurses at the front during WWI, Ellen La Motte and Mary Borden. Both women describe difficult conditions faced by American nurses at military hospitals. Their perspectives were very different, however. Borden was a Vassar graduate married to an Englishman; a mother an daspiring writer who had never nursed before she volunteered. She is typical of many of the idealistic, upper class women who felt compelled to do something to help during the war. La Motte was a professional nurse with administrative experience who was a specialist in tuberculosis. The two women met at a hospital at the front, and became friends.

This is a combination of 2 books The Backwash of War and the Forbidden Zone, both were written by American women who nursed the French and occasionally Belgian Armies. The books are far from the usual propaganda about the war, in fact the editor says both were banned because of their frank talk about the casualties and the behaviors of the men. The language is brilliant and the imagery vivid making for many captivating vignettes. ( )