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The Cry and the Covenant Hardcover – January 1, 1991

by
Morton Thompson (Author)
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Morton Thompson (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars 37 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Buccaneer Books; First Thus edition (January 1, 1991)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0899667589
  • ISBN-13: 978-0899667584
  • Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 6 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,522,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsIt�s all about hand washing. Life-changing book. Ten stars.
By Peggy Vincent on November 24, 2003
Format: Hardcover
This book is OLD. I mean, I'M old, and I read The Cry and the Covenant when I was a teenager, waaay before the era of feminism, women's rights, etc. And it blew me away. I'm sure it's partly responsible for my decision to go to nursing school, work in obstetrics, become a midwife, and write a memoir (Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife) of my experience doing home births in Berkeley, CA.
In a nutshell, it's a meticulously-researched tale of historical fiction about the life and ultimate death of Ignaz Semmelweiss during the era before the discovery of the germ theory. He noticed that women delivered at home by midwives usually lived, while those delivered by doctors in hospitals usually died. Hmmm, he thought (this was a man who lived way before his time, before the concept of scientific thinking had even been expressed), what's different about these two situations? Midwives work only with healthy women who deliver in their own beds. Doctors, wearing bloody aprons and showing off their bloody hands as badges of status and honor, went from the autopsy room to delivery room, where several women often lay on the same sheets before someone had time to change the bed linen.
Semmelweiss set up a successful experiment, insisting that the medical students in his hospital ward wash their hands between patients. The women stopped dying.
Did the other doctors proclaim him the new hero? What do you think? They did not. They instead castigated him for suggest that they do anything so demeaning as wash their hands - and they self-righteously refused to even consider that perhaps they themselves were the cause of childbed fever (puerperal sepsis) that killed more than half the women who came under their misguided care.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsCompelling, well-written biographical novel, a must read
By Todd V. LEONE on May 9, 2003
Format: Mass Market Paperback
This novelized biography of medical pioneer Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss, a Hungarian physician, is surprisingly interesting. Semmelweiss lived and practiced medicine in Europe in the 19th Century, predating the groundbreaking work of Louis Pasteur who eventually proved that microbes cause disease and leading medicine to include as an important tenet aseptic and antiseptic technique.
Cry and the Covenant paints a compelling picture of a time when doctors took no precaution whatever to make sure that their persons and instruments were clean. Puerperal fever, also known as childbed fever, took the lives of a huge percentage of women who gave birth in hospitals, to the point that intelligent women didn't want to go to the hospital for delivery of their babies for fear of dying. Semmelweiss was a great observer and, although no one had made the connection between the microorganisms (as seen by Leeuwvenhoek through his microscope a century earlier) and diseases, Semmelweiss began to conduct experiments to determine why some large groups of women nearly always contracted puerperal fever and other groups did not. Eventually he demonstrated that personal cleanliness on the part of physicians could prevent the disease, though he did not know precisely why that was so.
The data Semmelweiss collected proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was correct, but his peers would not listen to him. In an era where infectious and contagious diseases were thought to be caused by a variety of irrelevant things, doctors refused to wash their hands before delivering babies.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsA compelling passionate book about a true hero of medicine
By Michelle Indianer on January 23, 1998
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This is one of the best books I've read in my lifetime. I read it first in my early teens and I has haunted and inspired me about what kind of a human and latter a physician to be. It is the story of Ignaz Semmelwiess, a 19th century physician-midwife who discvered the reason for childbed fever in an era when people knew nothing about contagion. But it's also about the influence a person can have if they have integrety to fight for their beliefs, and how much a person can accomplish with sufficient drive and passion. It's a beautifully written compelling book!
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4.0 out of 5 starsMoving historical novel; true story
By M. Clarke on January 1, 2006
Format: Mass Market Paperback
In the mid-1800's, a Hungarian obstetrician despairs of the ravages of puerperal fever. Sometimes 30%, 50%, 80%, even 100% of women delivering their babies in lying-in hospitals across Europe would die slow, tortuous deaths by fever of unknown origin. Driven by pity for his patients, Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis searches for the cause and cure of childbed fever.

He discovers both. But the medical community of the 1860's is not friendly to change. Semmelweis spends the rest of his years writing papers, conducting experiments, and fighting the medical paradigm of his day. Ultimately, only after his death is his doctrine universally adopted, and the age of antisepsis ushered in.

Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis was a real man, and his struggles were authentic. "The Cry and the Covenant" is a brilliant historically-accurate semi-fiction; it is poignant; it is powerful. A must-read for any medical history enthusiasts or those in the medical professional . . . an exemplary tale of a doctor who never became cynical or jaded, and to whom the world owes an incredible debt.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThis book calls me back again and again. One ...

This book calls me back again and again. One man's struggle against the odds to change the way medicine is practiced and save the lives of women around the world.

Published 4 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful book!

My new husband (Ob/Gyn doc) gave me this book in the early 80's. He was so impressed with Ignaz Semmelweis that he wanted to name our first son Ignaz. Ummm. Read more

Published 10 months ago by penname
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the best books I have ever read!

This book was recommended, to me, by the librarian of our small Texas town library. I thanked her then and thank her now for suggesting such a marvelous book. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Brenda Ashton
5.0 out of 5 starsVery important book in the history of modern birthing

We may have complaints about hospital births and find fault with the treatment of new mothers, but all who complain should take time to learn the history of modern obstetrics. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsDon't Give Up On A Good Idea!

As if not having birth control weren't enough, women had to face medical care that killed them and their babies from ignorance! Read more

Published 18 months ago by Minimalist
4.0 out of 5 starsAn old, old book!

The book is quite beat up, but that's OK. I was so happy to find it as it's not common. Thx

Published on February 14, 2014 by M. Lyman
5.0 out of 5 starsCry and the Covenant

I read this book at least 40 years ago--loved it the first time and loved it even more the second time. Read more

Published on January 31, 2014 by sophienorm
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Cry and the Covenant

I read this book years ago and enjoyed it very much. The history of birth and the changes in hospital procedure I found very interesting. Read more

Published on January 8, 2014 by L. Coy
5.0 out of 5 starsa must read for anyone thinking of a career in healthcare

I have to tell you that this book was highly recommended to my Mom when she was in nursing school and it inspired me to also enter the medical field. Read more

Published on December 7, 2013 by M.U.T.Lee Bayer
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent book.

I read this book 50 years ago while I was pregnant with my daughter. It was loaned to me by my cousin who was studying to be a nurse. Read more

Published on December 6, 2013 by Faith Synol

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