"The Great War of 1914-1918 burst on the European scene with a brutality to mankind not yet witnessed by the civilized world... Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of maimed, beaten, and bleeding men surged into aid stations and hospitals with injuries unimaginable in their scope and destruction... [This book] provides a startling and graphic account of the efforts of teams of doctors and researchers to quickly develop medical and surgical solutions. Those problems of gas gangrene, hemorrhagic shock, gas poisoning, brain trauma, facial disfigurement, broken bones, and broken spirits flooded hospital beds, stressing caregivers and prompting medical innovations that would last far beyond the Armistice of 1918 and would eventually provide the backbone of modern medical therapy. Thomas Helling's description of events that shaped refinements of medical care is a riveting account of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of men and women to deter the total destruction of the human body and human mind. His tales of surgical daring, industrial collaboration, scientific discovery, and utter compassion provide an understanding of the horror that laid a foundation for the medical wonders of today."-- Provided by publisher.

The Fury of War --Marcille, Mignon, and Verdun: The Peculiar Metamorphosis of Battlefield Surgery -- Deep Mischief Lurking: The Unraveling of Traumatic Shock -- "The Most Atrocious of Ills": The Great War and the Scourge of Gas Gangrene -- "Gas, Gas, Gas!" -- Röntgen's Rays and Petites Curie -- The Remarkable Harvey Cushing and His Journeys through the Brain -- Shattered Faces -- Owen Thomas, His Splint, and Nephew Robert -- Shell Shock -- Death Rides upon a Pale Horse: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 -- And After the Dying.