War, Disability and Rehabilitation in Britain

'The greatness of a nation is in its fit men, but the soul of a nation is revealed in its attitude to its unfortunates'- George Tomlinson, Parliamentary Secretary - Ministry of Labour. Through a series of thematic chapters, Julie Anderson explores the nature of injured and disabled bodies before, d [...]
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'The greatness of a nation is in its fit men, but the soul of a nation is revealed in its attitude to its unfortunates'- George Tomlinson, Parliamentary Secretary - Ministry of Labour. Through a series of thematic chapters, Julie Anderson explores the nature of injured and disabled bodies before, during and after the Second World War. Modern war inflicted injury and disability on millions of people throughout the twentieth century. Caring for those injured and disabled in war has been the responsibility of military authorities, the State and society as a whole. Beginning at the end of the First World War and finishing with the publication of the Piercy Committee's report in 1956, the book examines medical practice, State support, societal attitudes and cultural meanings surrounding disabled war veterans and civilians. The book focuses on the embodied nature of the rehabilitative process, its gendered nature and the concentration on bodily fitness during the war.For those who were permanently disabled as a result of injury, the process of rehabilitation, with the value it placed on the body as an instrument for the State to wage total war, ensured that medical, industrial and social expertise combined to reconstruct lives in a number of ways. Moreover, the book investigates the ways that central government designed legislation and embraced the scheme of rehabilitation as a component of the early development of the welfare state. Through a series of case studies, this wide-ranging book seeks to understand the processes, methodology and practice of rehabilitation for those injured and disabled in war, and reflect on its adoption into post-war medical practice, State support and social life. War, Disability and Rehabilitation in Britain: 'Soul of a Nation' will interest a wide academic audience, historians of medicine and war studies, scholars interested in disability studies, and medical and health professionals in the fields of military medicine and rehabilitation.