Readers looking for history as well as more about the amazing Florence Nightingale will really enjoy this. You’ll learn a lot and have fun while doing it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Florence Nightingale comes to life in this easy to read biography, Historical. Intriguing. Complex. Heart wrenching. Five stars.

From an inquisitive, eager to learn young child, to caregiver of the needy, Florence Nightingale strove to make a difference in the world. Though raised in wealth, she cared for those others would leave behind. In this book, we see her, even in her younger years, seeking for her place and purpose. Once she found her calling, she carried it out with a fever we all can admire. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

I really enjoyed this book. While I was a little slow reading it and didn't get to the end before my time with it ran out, what I did read I enjoyed.

This was an interesting biography of Florence Nightingale. This book is very readable, and it includes many details from Florence’s life and career. Florence was quite a letter writer and also journaled her thoughts throughout her life. I liked that all throughout the book, we were reading many of Florence’s own words about her life. I learned some things about her that I did not know, especially about her devotion to her faith and what she felt was her calling from God. I found the section on her childhood especially of interest. As a retired teacher, I also have to mention that this would be a good biography for a book report for junior high and high school students.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I have always enjoyed reading about women of courage. I've ready many books about Florence Nightingale but this one seemed to resonate with me. Thank you for allowing me to read this encouraging book.

This is a biography style book which dips in and out of narrative and quotes.
We meet Florence Nightingale (Flo) as she grows into a young woman. She knows she has a calling but doesn't know exactley what that calling is and, worse still, how she can put this calling into action. An overbearing mother and sister, require her to entertain house guests, rather than be the woman she longs to be.
I really became engaged in the book when “The Lady with the Lamp” found her calling in the foul, disease-ridden medical camps of the Crimean War, working to support the British military. Against the odds and against the wishes of the doctors on the ground, she formed a workforce who turned the care of soldiers around.
Comforting wounded soldiers, fighting for their rights, and turning the medical world upside down by serving people who needed it most. Coming from the Upper class, Florence is no snob and gets her hands dirty and advocates for the less fortunate.
She worked tirelessly and was never content....her hardest critic being herself.

Thank you Netgalley and Barbour Books for this book.

I didn't know a lot about Florence Nightingale besides that she was a nurse, and I really wanted to know more about her story. This biography about her life, include some letters that she wrote and parts of her journal, it is not hard to read and it's very interesting.
Florence was born on May 12, 1820 in a wealthy familly, she was the second and last child of the familly, she had an older sister Parthenope.
Florence felt that she was called by God to serve Him, her utmost desire was to be useful and help people around her.
Florence had to fight some opposition from her familly regarding the path the she had chosen but opportunities came allowing her to have a training in an institution in Germany and then to work with wounded soldiers during the Crimean war.
I really like this book, and I like Florence heart's for others, she stayed focus on the call that God has for her even if it took time the door eventually opened for her. She care about people and their wellfare, she was very humble. She died in 1910.

I received a copy of this book and this is an honest review.

Beautiful book Women of Courage


Florence Nightingale by Sam Wellman. This one is a homage, a tribute at Nightingale.The existence of Florence, born in Florence! was an exclusive one. Her family was part of that elite who made the difference in the UK. Her education, and knowledge of many foreign languages, from French to Italian, including old greek and latin, philosophy, art, had to prepare her at a radiant future. Florence established a best connection with her father, with which she discussed of philosophy, politics. Not only: since she was a kid, she became an avid letter writer, and started to write short compositions.
She was educated by people who remained in her heart.


Although Florence loved her environment she was also a big christian.


She understood that she had received a call and that her path had to be different from the one decided by the society where she lived in.


Still young, once in Paris at the house of a more adult friend, not yet married, she understood the freedom and acceptance that that lady was experiencing although she could not be classified as a common lady.


Departures and lessons learned from her domestics or tutors let her understand that there is always a tomorrow, also when many disgraces touches the existence of a person; she later decided for a drastic choice that would have put down a lot the entire family: she wanted to become a nurse. Her existence has been absolutely a complete adventure.


She passed to the history because she was the one who, firstly, introduced statistics.


This book is written dreamingly. You will be introduced in the existence of Nightingale under many aspects; poems, written stuff of the author or poets and writers she entered in contact with, and that made the difference to her or she appreciated and it is pretty colloquial.

Trips, relatives, parents, houses, her sister, holidays, work, social conditions, history, nothing is hidden.


Beautiful.


Highly recommended.


I thank NetGalley and Barbour for this ebook.


Anna Maria Polidori

A classic! This is a story of a strong, bold woman full of courage who wasn't afraid to face anyone, or anything. Florence Nightingale was a force to be reckoned with. She left behind a lagacy that, in my opinion, everyone should know about. But, not everyone liked her attitude. There was a doctor who put down everything she tried to accomplish, and he showed how much he was against her all through the book. But she did not let that stop her. In my opinion, that just made her stronger. Even though she was born in a time where women did not have the right to vote, Flo still wanted to be able to speak her own mind, and do her own thing. But in that time period women weren't really alowed to speak up. Whether she wanted to or not, she still listened to her mother when she talked to her about things she wanted to do. Every time they had an argument, instead of her Dad taking sides he would walk away. That made Flo feel sad. She wanted him to take her side. But when Flo got older in years, she learned to speak up against her mother and wanted to do what Flo wanted to do and decided she wanted to help people; especially the sick. Just imagine what she could have accomplished in this day and time. I don't think anything could have stopped the woman. She was a real fighter for what she believed in. And because of her great courage, she became a great woman in history.

Later Flo was to be known as The Lady With The Lamp. She was that small ray of sunshine in a sea of pain for those wounded soldiers. She was well known in high society for what she had accomplished. Even Queen Victoria was her friend. I liked that!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Women of Courage: Florence Nightingale: Compassionate Care for People Who Need It Most was a wonderful read. I enjoyed learning about this important woman in history.
Five stars.

I have always loved her story now we get the “rest of the story”. This book shares details of her life from beginning to end. The story of Florence Nightingale is one everyone would benefit from reading.
I really enjoyed it and am thankful to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Women of Courage: Florence Nightingale
Compassionate Care for People Who Need It Most
by Compiled by Barbour Staff
Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Barbour Books

Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Biographies & Memoirs
Christian
Pub Date 01 May 2020





I am reviewing a copy of Women of Courage: Florence Nightingale through Barbour Books and Netgalley:





This series tells the stories of women who were bold, fearless, adventurous. And they have a faith that can move mountains. These are women of courage.






This series of biographies are easy to read and would make great teaching tools. These biographies celebrate the lives of women, like Florence Nightingale who lived lives committed to changing the world for better. What set these women apart? They lived courageously through Christ even in the midst of impossible situations.





In this biography of Florence Nightingale you will be introduced to “. The Lady with the Lamp” A woman who found her calling in the foul and disease ridden medical camps of the nineteenth century British Military. Florence Nightingale was set apart by her willingness to live bravely for Christ. She comforted injured soldiers, fought for their rights and turned the medical world upside down by treating those who were in the most need of it.



I give Women of Courage: Florence Nightingale five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

I found this book quite fascinating!! For all my life, all I have known of Florence Nightingale is what we have studied in our history books but there is so much more to her story than I ever imagined. She was born into the upper class in English society in 1820. She lived a life of relative luxury but was not altogether happy with her life. She was highly intelligent and able to hold her own in conversation with anyone by the age of 10. Flo grew into an independent woman who wanted the freedom to speak her mind do something to make a difference. She became one of the leading people in England in the field of medicine. In 1853 she became part of the Institute for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen. She poured herself into her work and cared for everyone without regard to her own personal safety. In 1854 she gathered a group of nurses to care for the British wounded in the Crimea and changed the way the war wounded were cared for. Some of the soldiers called her "Lady-in-Chief" but others called her "the lady of the lamp"...the name most often associated with Florence Nightingale. She was a remarkable woman. If you like history, you will love this book!!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Florence Nightingale
Florence was a very educated and forward thinking lady. I enjoyed learning about her. So many of the things she implemented in health care were common sense things. She fought her whole life to do what she felt God called her to do. He had a specific time line in mind and no matter how she tried to accomplish things on her own God was paving the way for the great influence He had for her to make.
He has a plan for each of us and we must seek Him and his direction so we can fulfill His calling on our lives.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Having chose nursing as my career it was a given that I would choose to read a book about Florence Nightingale. I enjoyed that parts that I presume were direct quotes from her writings and the overall story. I did not realize until looking back that the staff compiled this book.My only problem was trying to discern if I was reading a biography or historical fiction. I'm still not sure. At any rate, I found it for the most part easy reading and informative. If these are her words and possibly her thoughts I suppose I never realized she felt she had a calling from God and was such a strong Christian lady. Not a book you can whiz through, it takes a little time to read and be in that frame of mind. Interesting read.
I received this book as a complimentary copy and was under no obligation to provide review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Interesting book exploring the life of Florence Nightingale. From her childhood to her death, Florence was an extraordinary person. Her thoughts, dreams, emotions and goals are shared in this story. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Florence Nightingale (called Flo by friends and family) is a conundrum. She did so much good in the world of medicine but was never content and often dipped into depression that she hadn't done more.

I was continually confused whether this was a biography or a creative nonfiction. There were many times that a scene was given a taste of drama by speech tags. “'One is Ethelred!' she gasped... she cried out at another.” How do we know she gasped and cried out unless Flo wrote those words herself in her diary?

I think the problem was because Flo kept such meticulous diaries and wrote so many letters that there was just an abundance of information to condense for this biography. I appreciate getting to know her as a restless, aimless, brilliant but repressed young girl. But I think maybe some of that could have been streamlined a bit more, especially the historical details that didn't directly affect her life, like wars and literary giants she met or was influenced by. Maybe one small section could have been used to show the literary, spiritual, and political influences on her thinking.

I also was confused as to what age group this was meant for. The easy language made me think of middle-grade at first. The subject matter sure seemed like a coming-of-age YA for the majority of the book. But then some of the adult subjects seemed a little mature for middle-grade readers, especially the details of the horrible hospital conditions in the Crimea War.

This book also deals with heavy subjects like death and depression. The ideals of feminism and spirituality and political intrigue were hammered over and over again with no real conclusion.

I think I can recommend this biography only to those who already enjoy history. Someone just wanting the salient points about Flo's life and influence will not want to slog through all this.

Favorite quotes:

“Why not write of your own exciting life?” asked Clemence in French. “Exciting life” seemed a preposterous exaggeration, but slowly Flo warmed to the notion. To allow Clemence to read it, Flo wrote her “Life of Florence Nightingale” in French... in 1829.”

“Shortly after their departure, Flo learned that Hilary's older brother had died. Flo was consoled by the comfort Bonny himself had recently found in the Lord's words in chapter fourteen of the book of John: 'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me... I go to prepare a place for you.'”

“Miss Christie [her beloved tutor] tried hard to keep the girls busy so they would not brood over Bonny's death. She devised projects for the girls to earn their own money so they could help the poor.”

“It might seem strange that Flo, at age ten, could engage in such sophisticate conversations. But by now she had experienced many such discussions with her father and had overheard others discourse about the machinations of power. She was curious [sic] and her mind was like a sponge.”

“Such was Flo's world, an odd, rich mixture of imaginative children's games, adult discussions of history or politics, an the privilege of guided tours of the city.”

“Your grandmama says you have the qualities of 'both Martha and Mary, two excellent characters blended'... You are very active like Martha, but you are also very contemplative like Mary.”

“The more refined the lady, the more she was expected to faint.”

“Mama's attitude was that the girls should be thankful they were born into privilege. Yet, that was not satisfying to Flo—or Aunt Julia.”

“Oh, how wonderful she felt when she was useful.”

“And she began to think that her grief for Miss Christie had become an indulgence, her woe actually self-pity. 'Well,' she asked herself, 'do I believe in heavenly bliss or not?'”

“Slowness is not gentleness.”

“Mortality had dropped markedly where they had been allowed to make improvements. But the improvements were not universal. And so much remained to be done.”

“People say that time heals the deepest griefs. It is not true.”

“Flo saw the new century in. So did Queen Victoria, who by now had reigned for more than sixty years! Flo herself had passed into legend as 'the lady with the lamp.'” Even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized her in his poem “Santa Filomena.”

(I received this book for free from the author. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own, as was my decision to write a review.)

I've always admired Florence Nightingale for her bravery and fortitude, but I loved learning about her background and history and what shaped her into the wonderful woman she became! Great job Barbour Staff!

Thank you to Barbour Publishing and Netgalley for my copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

As a girl, I was absolutely fascinated with biographies of famous people and checked out every single one my school library had to offer. Florence Nightingale was a favorite. As a young woman from a wealthy family who gave her life in service as a nurse and helping others, she was a true and courageous woman. Recommended.

I received this book from Barbour Publishing via Net Galley and was not required to leave a review. The opinion here is my own.