Buy used: $5.01

$3.96 delivery July 15 - 22. Details

Or fastest delivery July 14 - 19. Details

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by Clean Earth Books

Add to List

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

Ira M. Rutkow

Bleeding Blue and Gray: Civil War Surgery and the Evolution of American Medicine Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 19, 2005

by Ira Rutkow (Author)

41 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover, Deckle Edge

"Please retry"

$5.01

—

$5.00

Paperback

"Please retry"

$22.95

$16.74

$13.78

A landmark chronicle of Civil War medicine, Bleeding Blue and Grayis a major contribution to our understanding of America’s bloodiest conflict. Indeed, eminent surgeon and medical historian Ira M. Rutkow argues that it is impossible to grasp the harsh realities of the Civil War without an awareness of the state of American medicine at the time.

At the outset of the war, the use of ether and chloroform remained crude, and they were often unavailable in the hellish conditions at the front lines. As a result, many surgical procedures were performed without anesthesia in the compromised setting of a battleground or a field hospital. This meant that “clinical concerns were often of less consequence,” writes Rutkow, “than the swiftness of the surgeon’s knife.”

Also, in the 1860s, the existence of pathogenic microorganisms was still unknown–many still blamed “malodorous gasses” for deadly outbreaks of respiratory influenza. As the great Civil War surgeon William Williams Keen wrote, “we used undisinfected instruments from undisinfected plush-lined cases, and still worse, used marine sponges which had been used in prior pus cases and had been only washed in tap water.”

Besides the substandard quality of wartime medical supplies and techniques, the combatants’ utter lack of preparation greatly impaired treatment. In 1861, the Union’s medical corps, mostly ill-qualified and poorly trained, even lacked an ambulance system. Fortunately, some of these difficulties were ameliorated by the work of numerous relief agencies, especially the United States Sanitary Commission, led by Frederick Law Olmsted, and tens of thousands of volunteers, among them Louisa May Alcott and Walt Whitman.

From the soldiers who endured the ravages of combat to the government officials who directed the war machine, from the good Samaritans who organized aid commissions to the nurses who cared for the wounded, Bleeding Blue and Graypresents a story of suffering, politics, character, and, ultimately, healing.

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Random House
Publication date

April 19, 2005
Dimensions

6.6 x 1.3 x 9.4 inches
ISBN-10

0375503153
ISBN-13

978-0375503153
See all details

Special offers and product promotions

Create your FREE Amazon Business account to save up to 10% with Business-only prices and free shipping. Register today

Similar books based on genre

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Products related to this item
Sponsored Hide feedback

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload video

Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		22%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Sammy

Treatise on the medical knowledge, treatments, and management during the civil war.

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2022

Verified Purchase

The excellent discussion on the level of US medical knowledge, care, treatment, and causality manage prior to and during the civil war. Basically, shows what the practice of medicine was like before establishing the use of scientific principles and awareness of infectious disease. Plus, the evolution of care for wounded soldiers.

Helpful

The Practice and Progress of Medicine

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2007

Verified Purchase

Medicine was another major area where the combatants of the Civil War were ill-equipped to begin. Prior to the Civil War hospitals were by and large places where one did not want to go. Those who were pushed out of society were sent to hospitals whereas those to be saved were cared for at home. Critics of hospitals complained of grimy walls and foul air due bodily secretions. Prior to the Civil War hospitals were only sanctuaries for the destitute and insane.

Basically doctors were divided between allopaths and homeopaths. The orthodox view of medicine at 1860 was typified by Benjamin Rush who taught bleeding, blistering, and purging for every imaginable ailment. So when in 1862, William Goodell was knocked unconscious by an exploding artillery shell, and his doctor observed that Goodell could not speak and ordered that ice be placed on Goodell's head and that his neck was opened to remove blood. Vomiting was induced. Blisters were created "on his legs and behind his ears to allow 'poisonous' fluids to ooze from the body." Homeopathy was the non-orthodox view of medicine at that time. These doctors prescribed herbs, roots, and the like to cure every ailment. The regimental doctor was often the person best qualified from the town where the regiment had been formed even though he may not have had any real qualifications at all.

Ambulances... if you study EMS, you'll find that ambulance service began during the Civil War. For the most part, casualties had faced the prospect of being a liability to the army and the injuries they suffered were their own bad fortune. Perhaps their fellow soldiers would return to the battlefield... if they had been victorious. At the First Battle of Bull Run, the Union has very few two-wheeled ambulances and was forced to leave their fate in the hands of the Confederates... who had fewer resources of their own and so the wounded were hospitalized all the way back to Richmond.

Nurses, because they were women at a time when women had few rights, were largely ineffective. One of the orders from Washington put nurses at the whim of doctors. This created a situation which serves as a source for a lot of off-color jokes about nurses. Nurses were not the highly trained respected persons that they are today.

Most of Dr Rutkow's book is about the political battles which changed policies. Frederick Law Olmstead is a major figure in Rutkow's book as is the Sanitary Commission. Edwin Stanton dueled and juggled with these and the likes of William Hammond and others. Interestingly, Rutkow leaves Abraham Lincoln above most of these political battles.

During the Civil War, amputations were common due to the fact that the doctors had an anesthetic (since the 1840's) and knew that gangrene would spread unless amputated. So why amputate? Why hurry patients to hospitals? Why change ventilation? Why change linens? The answer to these questions lies in the work of previous doctors. In another book I read the story about a head physician in Vienna in 1848 who managed two maternity wards. In one the mortality of the mothers was five times that in the other. The head physician tackled the problem by wondering whether one ward was too crowded, was birth position a problem, etc. In a way, it was stroke of luck that a male doctor also lost his life with the same symptoms as the women in the first ward. The head doctor determined that "cadervic material" had found its way from a mortuary to the maternity ward.

It was such testing that led to the reforms of the medical system during the Civil War. Hospitals became more open aired and sanitary. Proper nutrition was emphasized. Linens were clean. Doctors and nurses began to develop a "shared practice experience" along with some certification of qualification. And ambulances began to be deployed in sufficient number to remove the wounded from the battlefield to the hospitals.

The Civil War occurred in the waning years of medicine before the scientific era. My one criticism of Dr Rutkow's book is that he does not do much to explain some of the efforts to control infection in the time before the discovery of bacteria.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mary Mercedes

Packs a serious, in-depth punch on CW medicine!

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2006

Verified Purchase

Informative. A pleasure to read. Rutkow is a genius though. His beautiful book, SURGERY, AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, is still his masterpiece and will always be a prize on my bookshelf. Other reviewers have already gone into great detail on the contents of this volume, so I will just say that if you are interested in some little-known facts, stats, and extreme in-depth coverage of medicine during the Civil War, this is the best place to start. You WILL find plenty here that is new and fascinating.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Roslyn R. Romanowski

Civil War medical issues

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2007

Verified Purchase

This book is an excellent look at a broad spectrum of Civil War medical issues. The author touches on the medical training of doctors in the 19th century, and even discusses the role of nurses in patient care at the time. Much of the information in the book was new to me, rather than a rehashing of common information, As a physician, I marvelled at how little the medical personnel of the time had to work with. The administrative structure of the Medical Corps is covered in almost too much detail, but this information is made more palatable by vivid portraits of some of the leading figures. I wanted this book to be longer-- I hope that Dr. Rutkown returns to writing soon!

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

David Hodgson

This is a great book about the development of field care for the ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a great book about the development of field care for the sick and injured during a time when it was not so common. Presented within the book is a review of past practices and development with an eye on current care principles. Rutkow is a great author providing complex medical topics with an eye on informing and making the information available.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

MishMish3000

Bleeding Blue and Gray Is Great!

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2017

Verified Purchase

This was an excellent, if sad, read. I highly recommend it to students of history and people interested in the United States Civil War. The author does a great job explaining the state of medical arts at the time.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

nursejacki

Bleeding Blue and Gray: Civil War Surgery and the Evolution of American Medicine

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2006

Verified Purchase

Excellent! What a research project that Dr. Rutkow undertook with this book and then gave it back to us in an interesting, informative read! Thought I might get bored with all the history details and names, but I did not. Funny how much of the major movements in healthcare came with our experiences with war. Thought Vietnam was primarily the determinate change, but the Doc shows us how medicine evolved during the Civil War, but stayed stagnant at the same time. Read the book!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Doc

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

Good book but not quite what I expected.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

MOFF

Remarkable and depressing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2011

Verified Purchase

This is accepted in the US as the definitive account of the Medical support - or lack of it - in the War between the States. I bought it on the recommendation of the Civil War Surgeons Society, as I was interested in a family member who was a surgeon in the 155 NY Volounteers, and died like a lot of people from Dysentry.

For far better reviews than mine, use Google

One person found this helpful

Ben Forrest

Even better than expected

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

Easy-to-read and a fantastic insight into Civil War medicine whether you have a medical background or not. Rutkow has a lovely narrative style to his writing and thinks carefully about the historical evidence he's using. Definitely worth a read for any Civil War enthusiasts to get a new take on the carnage.

See all reviews

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Follow the Author

Bleeding Blue and Gray: Civil War Surgery and the Evolution of American Medicine Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 19, 2005

Special offers and product promotions

Similar books based on genre

Videos

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries