From School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up--Packed with detailed drawings and fascinating facts, these books are storehouses of information. Medicine examines such gory details as the medical procedures for the amputation of limbs and the practice of trepanning (cutting into the skull with a cylindrical saw). Also covered are diseases; hospitals; variations in treatments by the English, French, and Americans; and the differences between health problems faced in the Army and in the Navy. Soldier provides one- or two-page summaries of various aspects of a soldier's life. Topics include weapons, food, clothing, shelter, wounds and diseases, military decorations, etc. Both volumes feature detailed, well-labeled, black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings on each page. Primary sources are often quoted. However, the difficult-to-read script typeface and the crowded layout of some of the pages are sure to turn off many readers. Also, the author's writing style is sometimes confusing. Each book ends with a useful index and a list of museums where the artifacts featured in the illustrations can be found. These titles are a bit difficult to wade through, but the amount of information presented makes them useful for reports.
Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL
Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
