No Place for Ladies

Reviewed after receving an ARC of the updated version due to be released May 12th 2020, for Nurses Day, a portion of the proceeds being donated to Guys and St Thomas Charity.

Everyone knows about Florence Nightingale and her role in nursing through the Crimea War, what few know about are the other women who were in the Crimea, and the region at the same time supporting their husbands as wives "on the strength", other nurses running hospitals in other locations, or those independent sorts like Mary Seacole who moved herself out there and set up a business.

While I have connections to the British Army I had little knowledge of the Crimea itself or how the idea of wives travelling to war with their husbands worked, though I knew it had been common.

What I enjoyed about this was that it covered these things in enough detail that it was interesting but not enough to feel like drowning in detail.

The problems faced by the wives left at home were covered in the early parts of the book, those who were married as the Army considered it legally and those who were married without their husband obtaining consent having very different experiences - a system which to a degree exists today, wives are recognised but anyone unmarried essentially doesnt exist as far the the British military system is concerned - and the origin of the still existing tradition of asking permission to marry from your superior officer. Those married without the army's permission recieving no assistance after their husbands left, while those married with permission could access some help.

The desperation of wives to travel with their husbands makes a lot more sense in the light of the problems faced by those left at home, but it was far from an easy experience for them. The military was characteristically unprepared for the scale of the deployment with problems moving supplies from the harbour to the front leaving items in ships holds for far longer than was ideal, weather - a harsh winter and the Great Storm of 1854 (described as a hurricane in the book) and of course the day to day harsh life of an army at war.

Once the book starts to cover the nursing aspects Rappaport makes it quite clear that the legend of Ms Nightingale is not the whole truth of her which is refreshing and as I worked for a period at a place she was known to have frequented due to family connections before she became so well known as a nurse particularly interesting to me. But regardless of her personal clashes with other people she did make a huge difference to the care of her patients in incredibly difficult circumstances.

There was also mention of James Barry the military surgeon who after his death it was discovered was actually born female and named Margaret Ann Bulkley, who himself (as that is how he identified and chose to be known) was the second highest ranked military medic who established a hospital for treatment and recuperation for Crimea wounded.

Overall the book is a good way to learn more about another side of war and a war which these days seems, to me, to be little known about barring Florence and The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Well worth reading as an exploration of the lives which were lived relatively without acknowledgement at the time.

Well researched and clearly written, this book reveals the highly interesting story of the women--army wives, lady tourists, and nurses, who participated in some way in the Crimean War. As someone who knew little to none about this conflict going in, this was a very informative read that really taught me a lot beyond the mythological 'lady of the lamp' story that every child is taught in school. A brilliant historical book, will definitely be reading more of Helen Rappaport's work.