by Dr. Christine Hallett

Barron’s Educational Series, $24.99, 192 pages

Did you know that May 6th through May 12th is National Nurses Week? We should know that. Where would we be without these unappreciated, selfless souls that tend to the sick and infirmed? The least we could do is a commemorative book of the history of nurses. Celebrating Nurses: A Visual History attempts to pay the appropriative homage to these self-sacrificing angels of mercy and hope.

This book begins at the beginning; the Dark Ages, the Early Modern period of nursing as it was in 1450 to the 1800’s. It moves into the Twentieth Century and nursing today with intermittent chapters on uniforms, caps, leaders and the heroes of history complete with historical data and pictures. While I could easily see this book as a gracious gift for any nursing graduate or retiree, it would be hard-pressed to be a best-seller or everyday coffee-table book. Beautifully orchestrated and designed, obviously needed, Celebrating Nurses is a book to be recognized and respected if for nothing else but its tribute to the ones it describes and a fascinating look into the history and minds of the world of nursing.

Reviewed by M. Chris Johnson,