Doctors at War is a candid account of a trauma surgical team based, for a tour of duty, at a field hospital in Helmand, Afghanistan. Mark de Rond tells of the highs and lows of surgical life in hard-hitting detail, bringing to life a morally ambiguous world in which good people face impossible choices and in which routines designed to normalize experience have the unintended effect of highlighting war's absurdity. With stories that are at once comical and tragic, de Rond captures the surreal experience of being a doctor at war. He lifts the cover on a world rarely ever seen, let alone written about, and provides a poignant counterpoint to the archetypical, adrenaline-packed, macho tale of what it is like to go to war.Here the crude and visceral coexist with the tender and affectionate. The author tells of well-meaning soldiers at hospital reception, there to deliver a pair of legs in the belief that these can be reattached to their comrade, now in mid-surgery; of midsummer Christmas parties and pancake breakfasts and late-night sauna sessions; of interpersonal rivalries and banter; of caring too little or too much; of tenderness and compassion fatigue; of hell and redemption; of heroism and of playing God. While many good firsthand accounts of war by frontline soldiers exist, this is one of the first books ever to bring to life the experience of the surgical teams tasked with mending what war destroys.
Doctors at War is a candid account of a trauma surgical team based, for a tour of duty, at a field hospital in Helmand, Afghanistan. Mark de Rond tells of the highs and lows of surgical life in hard-hitting detail, bringing to life a morally ambiguous world in which good people face impossible choices and in which routines designed to normalize experience have the unintended effect of highlighting war's absurdity. With stories that are at once comical and tragic, de Rond captures the surreal experience of being a doctor at war. He lifts the cover on a world rarely ever seen, let alone written about, and provides a poignant counterpoint to the archetypical, adrenaline-packed, macho tale of what it is like to go to war.
Here the crude and visceral coexist with the tender and affectionate. The author tells of well-meaning soldiers at hospital reception, there to deliver a pair of legs in the belief that these can be reattached to their comrade, now in mid-surgery; of midsummer Christmas parties and pancake breakfasts and late-night sauna sessions; of interpersonal rivalries and banter; of caring too little or too much; of tenderness and compassion fatigue; of hell and redemption; of heroism and of playing God. While many good firsthand accounts of war by frontline soldiers exist, this is one of the first books ever to bring to life the experience of the surgical teams tasked with mending what war destroys.
Industry Reviews
"After reading de Rond's account of intubating children, incising bellies, stitching up wounds, and amputating legs, one's understanding of the ghastliness of modern war and its so-called collateral damage will never be the same. A must-read for politicians authorizing the use of deadly force and for all the citizens electing them."-Michel Anteby, author of Manufacturing Morals "Doctors at War is a tale of considerable power. It's an impressionistic account of a British field hospital told in an emotive voice; it is hardly dispassionate, but that is its strength. Mark de Rond depicts the workaday life of army surgeons on field deployment brilliantly and without glamor. He brings the Afghanistan war into sharp focus by highlighting the human costs of the conflict."-John Van Maanen, Erwin H. Schell Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management, author of Tales of the Field "Doctors at War is an amazing, wonderful book. Near the end of it, Mark de Rond writes: 'If we social scientists took stock of the problems we have solved to date, and their consequences for humanity, would we have reason to be proud?' Social scientists often have little reason to be proud, but we should all be very proud of Doctors at War. This is a vivid, extraordinary ethnography that addresses central questions of what it means to be human in situations that allow for very little transcendent meaning. This book evokes compassion even while it conveys horrifying scenes. It shows how organizing works in these types of situations, and how pancakes may be a brilliant psychiatric intervention. I strongly recommend that any social scientists who care about meaningful contributions of their work read and learn from this book."-Jean M. Bartunek, Robert A. and Evelyn J. Ferris Chair and Professor of Management and Organization, Boston College "Brilliantly written, brutally honest, and often very funny, this is a powerfully affecting book. Think House of God, with its tired, funny, sometimes cynical but totally dedicated medics; mix in some Dispatches, add a handful of MASH, and you have Doctors at War. The book deserves a place as one of the best to come out of the Afghanistan debacle."-Frank Ledwidge, author of Losing Small Wars "A page-turner, Doctors at War is not for the faint-hearted. De Rond's masterful narrative brings into sharp focus the absurdities of clashing organizational, professional, and cultural values and practices."-Dvora Yanow, coauthor of Interpretive Research Design "Mark de Rond takes us into the dark territory of doctors working in 'the world's bloodiest hospital.' This book is a vivid account of the lived experience of doctors at war."-Katherine C. Kellogg, author of Challenging Operations "In Doctors at War, Mark de Rond shines a light on a reality we are not supposed to see. It is a reality, especially in an age of endless techno war, we must confront if we are to recover the human."-from the Foreword by Chris Hedges
