Originally published in 1918 as a portion of the author’s larger “Eminent Victorians,” this Kindle edition, equivalent in length to a physical book of 64 pages, describes the life and work of English nurse and medical reformer Florence Nightingale.
Includes supplemental material:
• A Brief Summary of the Life of Florence Nightingale
• A Brief Summary of the Crimean War
Sample passage:
Everyone knows the popular conception of Florence Nightingale. The saintly, self-sacrificing woman, the delicate maiden of high degree who threw aside the pleasures of a life of ease to succour the afflicted, the Lady with the Lamp, gliding through the horrors of the hospital at Scutari, and consecrating with the radiance of her goodness the dying soldier’s couch—the vision is familiar to all. But the truth was different. The Miss Nightingale of fact was not as facile fancy painted her. She worked in another fashion, and towards another end; she moved under the stress of an impetus which finds no place in the popular imagination. A Demon possessed her. Now demons, whatever else they may be, are full of interest. And so it happens that in the real Miss Nightingale there was more that was interesting than in the legendary one; there was also less that was agreeable.
About the author:
Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) was a British biographer and critic. Other works include “Landmarks in French Literature,” “Queen Victoria,” and “Portraits in Miniature and Other Essays.”
Includes supplemental material:
• A Brief Summary of the Life of Florence Nightingale
• A Brief Summary of the Crimean War
Sample passage:
Everyone knows the popular conception of Florence Nightingale. The saintly, self-sacrificing woman, the delicate maiden of high degree who threw aside the pleasures of a life of ease to succour the afflicted, the Lady with the Lamp, gliding through the horrors of the hospital at Scutari, and consecrating with the radiance of her goodness the dying soldier’s couch—the vision is familiar to all. But the truth was different. The Miss Nightingale of fact was not as facile fancy painted her. She worked in another fashion, and towards another end; she moved under the stress of an impetus which finds no place in the popular imagination. A Demon possessed her. Now demons, whatever else they may be, are full of interest. And so it happens that in the real Miss Nightingale there was more that was interesting than in the legendary one; there was also less that was agreeable.
About the author:
Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) was a British biographer and critic. Other works include “Landmarks in French Literature,” “Queen Victoria,” and “Portraits in Miniature and Other Essays.”
