Customer Reviews

Champions Of Charity: War And The Rise Of The Red Cross

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hutchinson, a history professor at Canada's Simon Fraser University, exhaustively recounts the early history of the Red Cross from its origins in the 1860's to the 1920's, finding an untoward identification with militarism in the age of total war.
Starting with its pacifist beginnings, issues and organizational philosophy are thoroughly discussed, but those interested in the actual wartime operations of the organization are advised to look elsewhere, as these matters are hardly touched upon in this work.

(The 'score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books).

The book is erratic and totally misleading from a Red Cross perspective. Although there are some real gems in this book its far too large and copious and the historical interpretation is biased toward the red cross and barely mentions any thing about the "tainted blood" scandle that's absolutely critical to the history of the RC. There's nothing here that even mentions the war time record of the red cross, the partnership with the St John organization or the contribution the red cross has made in the social fabric of the western world - in fact the author condemns the St John Ambulance with weak and inexcusable exhortations about "who's better" (shame shame). There isn't anything substantial about the VON either. The book is sickly sweet and doesn't even come close to a good, historical account of the origins of the war effort for a voluntary service organization in the british tradition. blah blah blah...