I really enjoyed No Man's Land by Wendy Moore. Learning about so many of the amazing women who worked as doctors and nurses running the "Suffragette's Hospital". It was not surprising to me that the two women doctors behind this endeavour, Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson, were suffragettes before WWI, but it was fascinating to see their courage and eagerness to help the wounded in spite of a very reluctant English government full of men who still thought women couldn't really be doctors, especially not doctors looking after men. But in the end their hospital became known as the best and most well-run military hospital in Great Britain.
Whether you're interested in women's history, feminism, medical history, WWI or just history in general I highly recommend this book.

I really loved this book. A very interesting story and also a very readable narrative

Waiting for the movie or the TV series!!! (really should be one or both)

A new history book by Wendy Moore - be aware it is published under two titles - is something that readers of general history will look forward to. This one subtitled “The Trailblazing Women who ran Britain’s most extraordinary Military Hospital during World War One” certainly meets the mark presenting two women Louisa Garret Anderson (surgeon) and Flora Murray (physician and anaesthetist), once famous but now largely forgotten, primarily in the key roles they filled during the First World War. Moore balances the women and their day to day living with the extraordinary times in which they operated so very effectively – saving many lives – using both official public records and private letters and diaries that she has accessed.
Both women (who would go on to become lifelong partners) were in their forties by the time war broke out in 1914 and by then they were experienced doctors. This in itself was an unusual feat. Albeit many medicine schools and hospitals were closed to women, they had fought their ways through the masculine “closed” shop” of the medical profession to train, gain experience and then practice. Both were committed feminists so they ensured that other women followed through behind them too. In the days before the National Health Service treatment was both expensive and often inaccessible to poorer people – women (substantial numbers of whom would die in childbirth) and children were particularly at risk. They established – and maintained throughout the war – the London Women’s Hospital and other key civilian service but set up and managed the only official British Women’s Military Hospital in England.
When war broke out in August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force was sent to support the French Army. The Royal Army Medical Corps and its procedures were rapidly overwhelmed by the speed of the German advance. A number of private medical facilities were set and offered to the British Army (without success) and to the French, Belgians and others. Within weeks of the outbreak Garrett Anderson and Murray, using their suffragette links, had set up and located a facility in Paris. With the British Army in serious trouble they then set up another hospital closer to the front line and the Channel ports. But they were both overtaken by developing events. However they had started to build essential links into the military.
By 1915 using these links they had negotiated to set up a military hospital in London. Under the auspices of the military it allowed them to access a building in Endell Street, (an old Workhouse) some staff, equipment and money to create a 700 bed hospital, but meant they were subject to a barrage of military rules, minutiae and regulations in a profoundly misogynistic and hostile organisation. The hospital , often (in spite of its London location) a “frontline” treatment centre during the “big pushes” would run until early 1919 with decreasing army staffing but an increasing profile and respect in some quarters. It dealt with massive levels of patients, trying to resolve both their physical and mental traumas, through the worst of the war, coping with problems of new issues and techniques of an evolving war – shortages, inappropriate equipment, disease, new weapons and gas attacks. Through this day to day work, Endell Street Hospital became a leading centre for new medical developments of both surgery and infection control.
But the above makes it sound almost easy, the two women would have to manage provision and staff the hospital throughout the war, prodigious achievement. People became over-stressed, tired, ill and died. Together they kept the place (and the Women’s Hospital) operational through the years using women doctors from around the Empire and an evolving suite of nurses and volunteers. Some of these women would go on to be key medical influencers around the World after the war. At times the Hospital itself was at risk of bombing attacks and additionally treated the local civilian population as well. The suffragette ideals were never forgotten and Murray continually campaigned for the women staff to have salary and pensions rights comparable to their male compatriots.
Many informed women readers will know that after the war there was a big push to return women to the homes and provide jobs for the men. Women doctors and medical staff were in practice booted back a generation within a very short period. Moore does not overlook this and it is painfully detailed. An important lesson on how fast advances can be lost.
This book covers so much, in such painful detail melding the medical issues with the war ones and the social pressures on the women involved. So much that it is hard to mention, let alone do it justice in a short review. It highlights the real people (not just Garrett Anderson and Murray) behind the achievements and gives a deeply evocative impression of not just the actions but the emotions and mental cost of what people were going through at the time. It contributes another perspective of life during the war. Together this makes this an extremely important book not just on women’s rights, but on all wars and their impacts. It is not an easy read as a result, but it comes highly recommended.

As one who loves World War history, I found this to be very informative and engaging!

I have always loved learning about what goes on sort of behind the scenes of the frontline, and this is a wonderful account of the midwives and nurses who helped the wounded. The sheer wit and determination of those who courageously put themselves in harm's way to help others is so inspiring.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the writing to be smooth and readable. It was entertaining as well as informative. I would recommend this book to all my fellow history lovers!

No Man's Land is a heart-warming and motivating read for everyone today! Especially during the time of war against Covid-19. The book has multiple times over shown the importance of both gender and pressed on equality. It has rekindled the stance of why Feminism is important even today, why the revolution isn't over. Loved it but I thought it could've been a bit shorter as the same messages have been iterated multiple times.

This is a remarkable true life story of two brave women doctors who opened a military hospital during WWI. Both women were doctors who were experiencing discrimination at the time and not allowed to even do surgery on men. Held back in their careers they both fought for women's rights and were also two of the trailblazing women that helped women gain rights after the war. Once the war broke out they took it upon themselves to open Britain's most successful military hospital run by women. They not only successfully treated patients they did groundbreaking work with the veterans . They were the first doctors to discover how to treat PTSD in veterans. its a story that everyone should read to know these brave women.

I loved this book and this impressive story of two women of history I formally did not know about. The author did a remarkable job of telling their personal story amid the background of WWI. A .excellent read. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I needed some books that I could download just in case I was stuck at work for the duration. I looked for books that caught my attention and I found one telling a story I had never heard before – one about an all-female military hospital in Britain during WWI. That’s how I came to read No Man’s Land by Wendy Moore.
When World War I broke out in 1914, two British female doctors offered their services, hoping to help the war wounded. They were told by their own government that their services were not needed…that this was something better suited for men. Pioneering doctors and suffragettes, Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson would not be deterred. They headed to France, opening a hospital in a luxury hotel in Paris where they successfully cared for hundreds of casualties from the battlefields of France.
Word of their success came to the British Army from visitors to patients alike. With the war ramping up and male doctors in shorter supply, the British Army finally approached Murray and Anderson, asking them to set up a hospital in London. The Endell Street Hospital soon became known for its innovative and lifesaving treatments and a staff that was entirely made up of women – women orderlies, nurses, doctors, stretcher-bearers, cleaners, librarians and more from places like Britain, Australia, Scotland and the United States.
So successful were they that, even though many field hospitals were allowed to close at the end of the war, the Endell Street Hospital was asked to remain open to treat those few soldiers still suffering from war wounds, shellshock, and now, the flu. Thus, the hospital was open during the 1919 flue pandemic and were pioneers in being one of the first hospitals to wear masks on the wards to prevent the spread.
When I chose No Man’s Land, I didn’t know it would cover the pandemic as well as the war. How interesting – almost as if divine intervention was involved in the choosing. Wendy Moore weaves quite the interesting tale, delving deep into the lives of the doctors who led the hospital, as well as the many other members of their staff, giving the reader excellent insight into the people who made this hospital such a success.
It could have been enough for Murray and Anderson to have created an all-female run hospital, but they decided to delve into new and innovative treatments for infection and surgery. In addition, they also treated the mind of their patients as well as their bodies, ensuring that their patients could get their hands on any reading material they wanted, had help writing letters home, learned new abilities in the event that they were disabled and couldn’t return to their normal lives. They even supplied other forms of entertainment – music concerts, follies and more – to ensure a jovial attitude in the hospital. It was no wonder that their patients were singing the praises of the hospital on Endell Street.
No Man’s Land introduced me to the tale of the first successful all-female run military hospital in Britain – something I had never learned about when studying World War I. It also told of the multitude of obstacles that stood in their way as they worked toward creating and running this hospital, as well as the way in which the staff’s work was dismissed once the war and their usefulness was deemed over. This is definitely a book that all women should read – a book about pioneers who faced the world with a lack of willingness to be deterred from their goal…ultimately equal rights for all women. No Man’s Land is a great read and I highly recommend it.

As a woman and a nurse who served in the military, though not in wartime, I am in awe of these women doctors, nurses, and ordered who served in such primitive conditions in WWI. I know little of WWI, the suffragette's movement in England, and the 1918 flu pandemic but because of the events of 2020 I have, of course, looked to the past to understand today. This book covers the struggles of Dr. Flora Murry and Louisa Garret Anderson as suffragettes and doctors to obtain the vote for women and equal rights for women under the law. The way women were treated and still are is appalling. By the way, women in England did not get full access to medical school until 1975!!! Another fun fact, Louisa Garrett Anderson was the daughter of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson the first female doctor in England. Until WWI the few female doctors there were regulated to treating women and children only and barely paid.
WWI begins, the Army run by men, is proved to be incompetent and the medical core is overwhelmed the first day, and thousands of wounded die for lack of care. Enter Dr's. Murray and Anderson and their staff and they open a model hospital under the French Red Cross and start saving lives. Other women also come to the rescue of the wounded with hospitals and ambulance. What Dr's. Murray and Anderson's face is heart-wrenching. Get the tissues out as you read the stories about these brave women treating these brave soldiers. Be angry at the governments and the paper pushers who stood in the way of get getting things done for the better. Be angry at the stupidity of 20 million people dying over a strip of land in France which is what it boiled down to though not all died right there. I digress.
Dr's. Murray and Anderson did so much good in France they were tapped to open a 575-bed hospital in London for the wounded. Though most of the military doubted they would be successful in their hospital and their satellite hospital turned out to be the best hospitals in London for the wounded. Prepare to be awed by the staff's commitment to the wounded working long hours 7 days a week with few breaks to serve their country and the wounded with food being rationed no less. They had to deal with infections and no antibiotics, lice and no bug killer, war wounds, and no fancy equipment, summer, and winter with no central heat and air. The stories are unbelievable. I could not put the book down. I could not have done it. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book for a review.

4.5 stars

This was a fascinating account of a little-known World War I event: the first and only all-female operated military hospital. Two determined doctors, who were also suffragettes, persevered to overcome male intransigence, military bureaucracy, and public bias against women to succeed at efficiently implementing, equipping and running a casualty hospital.

The two women, Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson, experienced difficulty enough in those pre-women's vote times in becoming doctors. And even after their training, the only jobs open were in pediatric and ob/gyn type situations. They were turned down in England when they volunteered to staff a hospital, but found acceptance in Paris. Their crew of female doctors, orderlies and nurses (with a few male helpers) did an outstanding job and soon word of mouth spread to not only soldiers but to the civilian population and the military brass.

When you consider neither doctor had much relevant experience, it's a particularly impressive feat. Anderson learned on the job and soon became a very competent surgeon dealing with incredibly difficult cases of head injuries, fractures, and gunshot wounds. One of their biggest concerns was sepsis as almost every wound they saw was infected. They ended up contributing to a medical breakthrough by trying some new methods and materials.

This was a magnificent success story, but also very poignant given the horrific wartime casualties. And sadly, although the military hierarchy finally recognized their competence and enlisted them to run a hospital in London, they never actually had equal status or pay with their male counterparts. And even more disturbing, after the war ended it was back to square one. Most women doctors were dismissed when the men returned home, and were relegated once again to subsurvient status.

This is a compelling read, with war history interwoven with the personal stories of the women involved and a succinct re-telling of the difficulties they overcame. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

At a time when female physician were nearly unheard of, Louise Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray ran military hospitals in Paris & London that were staffed by women and the occasional male orderly in a world where men were only treated by men.
In 'No Man's Land' Wendy Moore with access to articles, diaries and letters tells the story of the 520 bed Endell Street Military Hospital in the heart of London during WWI. Working with precision during the most difficult of times and providing a more domestic environment, Anderson & Murray treated soldiers affected mentally & physically by the casualties of war; those needing immediate surgery, infected wounds and shell shock. They developed new, innovative surgical techniques and medical treatments and worked tirelessly through the waves of those afflicted by the Spanish Flu (eerily reminiscent of today's pandemic) without a designated treatment plan or protocol.
Pioneers, suffragettes and professional and personal partners forging through the mot difficult of times, Anderson & Murray paint a portrait of strength, compassion, vulnerability and fortitude. As their expertise and skills became accepted and praised, a society magazine stated "They are men in the best sense of that word and yet women in the best sense of that word also". Louise Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray paved a road so more could follow and triumphed!

These women deserve this tribute as they went above and beyond their call of duty. In these troubled times we should remember the sacrifices they made, no matter how seemingly small.

This book was so good! The characters were so well rounded, you felt like you actually knew them! The plot was so good you didn't want the book to end!