If you’re interested in the impact of war on soldiers, and on civilians … A War of Nerves is a go-to reference tome. Shephard’s book is more than a history of military psychiatry in the twentieth century – Ben makes contrasts and comparisons with today’s approaches to PTSD, shock and combat fatigue. It’s an authoritative and very readable account that draws on a huge range of diaries, interviews, medical papers, and official records. Perhaps most importantly, Shephard surfaces insights from both doctors and soldiers – reaching back to the moment when the technologies of modern warfare and the disciplines of psychological medicine first confronted each other on the Western Front.
Featured in:
