Linked by parallel themes and narrative approaches, the episodes recounted by La Motte and Borden expose the intense, horrific world of the surgical wards and operating rooms. Revealing the moral dilemmas faced by those who make decisions about the lives and deaths of soldiers, they describe the ethical contradictions of saving men who will return to the trenches to kill or be killed. --from publisher description.

An anthology of reprinted war sketches from E.N. La Motte's "The backwash of war" and M. Borden's The forbidden zone."

From The Backwash of War /Ellen N. La Motte -- Heroes 5 -- Alone 13 -- A Belgian Civilian 21 -- Interval 29 -- Women and Wives 39 -- Pour la Patrie 49 -- A Surgical Triumph 57 -- At the Telephone 65 -- A Citation 69 -- From The Forbidden Zone / Mary Borden -- Belgium 81 -- Square 85 -- Moonlight 89 -- Enfant de Malheur 99 -- Rosa 119 -- Conspiracy 129 -- Paraphernalia 133 -- In the Operating Room 137 -- Blind 145.