What do you think?
Rate this book
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale was a healer, a comforter, and a nurturer. But like all of us, she had a dark side. Because of her mystique and her charisma she always got what she wanted. Seldom, did anyone really know her. They were drawn to her. They had to be with her. They admired her. At least one man literally worked himself to death for her. But they did not really know her. There is no doubt she was a force with which one had to attend. Denial of her passion and abilities generally led only to personal devastation! Now you can discover the darker side of Florence Nightingale.
90 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1918
15 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Lytton Strachey
78 books65 followersGiles Lytton Strachey was a British writer and critic. He is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit. His 1921 biography Queen Victoria was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 19, 2024
For me this was a hagiography of Florence Nightingale, and not a very well written one. It made an attempt to sensationalise every event and to build up the subject, and is critical of every other character - even her main supporters were described as lazy and ineffective. In spite of the sensationalising, the content was for the large part uninteresting (to me at least), and I was far from taken by the writing style which I struggle to even describe. It may be the age of the writing (this Penguin 60 content is taken from a book called Eminent Victorians published in 1918), but I don't know.
Really, I don't want to spend more time on a review of a book I didn't enjoy reading...
I will say at an average rating of 3.78, I am not sure what others ae seeing that I missed.
2 stars
Really, I don't want to spend more time on a review of a book I didn't enjoy reading...
I will say at an average rating of 3.78, I am not sure what others ae seeing that I missed.
2 stars
February 9, 2008
It is hard to find biographies that bring the subject to life. This is one of those few.
April 23, 2022
Lytton Strachey is stipping away all the romanticized notions we have about the lady with a lamb. He gives an honest biography about an exceptionally dedicated nurse who had a strong determination to get things done.
As I read the work I felt that by idolizing her we are actually lessening her efforts, her humanity dedication and hard work, it actually makes her a better human and that's the best compliment that she deserves, to be the best among the people she lived for.
The Florence Nightingale we know of is a kind angelic nurse who took care of the sick and injured with a smile but realistically while considering the facts about the war and the medical advancements of the time I can assume that none of the events she experienced would have prompted her to have a gentle meek demeanour.it sure required a woman with an iron will to get all the changes done and I am sure that, to sidestep the politicians at that time she sure was not meek and gentle but strong and diplomatic.
We understand her story from a different point of view, we realise why she has been doing all these things that motivated her, the rich upper-class woman who chose the profession that was looked down on by society. Strachey says that she worked as though she was possessed by demons, she neglected her own personal well being for that of the sick, she went above and beyond her field of work to an extent that nursing was the least of the things that she did in Scutari.
She took money from her own pocket to build hospital wards, cloth the army, feed the soldiers, she wrote letters to the soldiers' families, to the officials, to the press and her own personal letters at night after doing all the hard work from dusk to dawn.
As I read the work I felt that by idolizing her we are actually lessening her efforts, her humanity dedication and hard work, it actually makes her a better human and that's the best compliment that she deserves, to be the best among the people she lived for.
The Florence Nightingale we know of is a kind angelic nurse who took care of the sick and injured with a smile but realistically while considering the facts about the war and the medical advancements of the time I can assume that none of the events she experienced would have prompted her to have a gentle meek demeanour.it sure required a woman with an iron will to get all the changes done and I am sure that, to sidestep the politicians at that time she sure was not meek and gentle but strong and diplomatic.
We understand her story from a different point of view, we realise why she has been doing all these things that motivated her, the rich upper-class woman who chose the profession that was looked down on by society. Strachey says that she worked as though she was possessed by demons, she neglected her own personal well being for that of the sick, she went above and beyond her field of work to an extent that nursing was the least of the things that she did in Scutari.
She took money from her own pocket to build hospital wards, cloth the army, feed the soldiers, she wrote letters to the soldiers' families, to the officials, to the press and her own personal letters at night after doing all the hard work from dusk to dawn.
May 25, 2018
Interesting "brief life" story of Nightingale by the very gifted Lytton Strachey. In the 21st century one reads while shaking your head at the privation of any sanitary measures in hospitals until this woman came along and pushed for change - and this is just 150 fifty years ago - to say she revolutionized nursing and hospital care is no overstatement.
February 16, 2021
My 10yo gave me this book for my birthday; I flipped it over and read the back:
"Florence Nightingale was a healer, a comforter, and a nurturer. But like all of us, she had a dark side."
Oh gag. Spare me. If I had been browsing at the used book shop, it would have gone back on the shelf --but it was a gift from my son. I opened it up. The offending text is taken from the introduction, written by an Anita S Kessler, with a whole pile of initials after her name --and she's obnoxious. I flipped to the first page... And quickly found myself enjoying a very well written story of a remarkable woman. Happily, the author is not so silly as the woman who wrote the introduction.
Miss Nightingale was a well-healed Victorian woman. As such, she had one job, because, after all: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Instead of preceding down the path decreed, young Florence incited consternation and alarm by announcing a desire to work as a nurse --by her own confession, roughly equivalent to announcing an ambition to become a kitchen maid: nurses were, at that time, typically drunken, filthy, ignorant, and frequently of questionable morals. Obviously out of the question for a daughter of a respectable family.
Only, somehow she never does secure the husband that a woman of her accomplishments was expected to procure. She struggles with depression. And, accompanying her mother and sisters on a tour of the Continent, she manages to visit most of the great European hospitals. Eventually she becomes the superintendent of a nearby charitable nursing home.
Then the Crimean War breaks out.
Miss Nightingale does, indeed, become an angel of mercy, the Lady With the Lamp, to the suffering soldiers at a barracks "hospital" -if you can call it that- in Constantinople. To them she is the face of mercy; the embodiment of hope in a bleak, filthy, vermin-infested, squalid death trap masquerading as a hospital. The supposed "dark side" Ms. Kessler warned of is the indomitable spirit necessary to be able to accomplish anything at all under that sort of condition: welcomed by no one but the wounded and dying, facing opposition at every turn from petty officials who seemed completely unconcerned by the waste of human life going on on their watch, right under their noses. She brought her own funds; she secured private funding. She arranged for the hospital to be scrubbed, made the laundry happen, arranged for regular meals for the soldiers, acquired clothing medications, hospital supplies... she organized it all. Anyone who can do that is a force to be reckoned with. And that was just the beginning.
Skip the introduction; it's junk. But the book, though short, was well worth the time. My biggest complaint about the book itself is that it's *too* short. I wish that the author had given more detail, particularly of her lesser known accomplishments after the war: arguably, these were the greater part of her work, enabled, in part, by the fame and public adoration that resulted from her role in saving lives during the war. I wish there was more substance given about the work she undertook to ensure lasting reform. Miss Nightingale obviously left behind significant volumes: diaries, at least one book, voluminous correspondence; I wish the author had given us more, and more in her own words, from her own pen. But what he did write is worth reading.
"Florence Nightingale was a healer, a comforter, and a nurturer. But like all of us, she had a dark side."
Oh gag. Spare me. If I had been browsing at the used book shop, it would have gone back on the shelf --but it was a gift from my son. I opened it up. The offending text is taken from the introduction, written by an Anita S Kessler, with a whole pile of initials after her name --and she's obnoxious. I flipped to the first page... And quickly found myself enjoying a very well written story of a remarkable woman. Happily, the author is not so silly as the woman who wrote the introduction.
Miss Nightingale was a well-healed Victorian woman. As such, she had one job, because, after all: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Instead of preceding down the path decreed, young Florence incited consternation and alarm by announcing a desire to work as a nurse --by her own confession, roughly equivalent to announcing an ambition to become a kitchen maid: nurses were, at that time, typically drunken, filthy, ignorant, and frequently of questionable morals. Obviously out of the question for a daughter of a respectable family.
Only, somehow she never does secure the husband that a woman of her accomplishments was expected to procure. She struggles with depression. And, accompanying her mother and sisters on a tour of the Continent, she manages to visit most of the great European hospitals. Eventually she becomes the superintendent of a nearby charitable nursing home.
Then the Crimean War breaks out.
Miss Nightingale does, indeed, become an angel of mercy, the Lady With the Lamp, to the suffering soldiers at a barracks "hospital" -if you can call it that- in Constantinople. To them she is the face of mercy; the embodiment of hope in a bleak, filthy, vermin-infested, squalid death trap masquerading as a hospital. The supposed "dark side" Ms. Kessler warned of is the indomitable spirit necessary to be able to accomplish anything at all under that sort of condition: welcomed by no one but the wounded and dying, facing opposition at every turn from petty officials who seemed completely unconcerned by the waste of human life going on on their watch, right under their noses. She brought her own funds; she secured private funding. She arranged for the hospital to be scrubbed, made the laundry happen, arranged for regular meals for the soldiers, acquired clothing medications, hospital supplies... she organized it all. Anyone who can do that is a force to be reckoned with. And that was just the beginning.
Skip the introduction; it's junk. But the book, though short, was well worth the time. My biggest complaint about the book itself is that it's *too* short. I wish that the author had given more detail, particularly of her lesser known accomplishments after the war: arguably, these were the greater part of her work, enabled, in part, by the fame and public adoration that resulted from her role in saving lives during the war. I wish there was more substance given about the work she undertook to ensure lasting reform. Miss Nightingale obviously left behind significant volumes: diaries, at least one book, voluminous correspondence; I wish the author had given us more, and more in her own words, from her own pen. But what he did write is worth reading.
November 29, 2017
Nightingale, the bottom line can be read in a brief time.
Considering that I knew next to nothing about Florence Nightingale (and that I work in nursing)...
This is an important book. Nursing School makes reference to her as well as other innovators, of the field but really don't go into depth on the history.
This book answers those questions. For we the readers do receive a clear picture of the state of nursing prior to the Nightingale Impact and the motivations for her to do what she did.
We also receive a glimpse of her personality. We generally don't visualize role models and celebrities as being human but in some celebrated state above. (Michael Jackson was once asked if he ever had to use the rest room.) So in contrast to this bigger than life perception, we see that Miss Nightingale was as human as the rest of us. Imagine Florence Nightingale actually resorting to name calling and even engaging into fisticuffs!
These all too human traits helps paint a picture of the ordinary being able to go beyond herself and accomplish the extraordinary!!!!
It's also a short book. I was actually disappointed that I finished reading it so-oooo quickly. But the brevity, I feel, takes away any excuse of people in the nursing field not reading it. But this is a history book and history books are for everyone...
not just nursing!
Considering that I knew next to nothing about Florence Nightingale (and that I work in nursing)...
This is an important book. Nursing School makes reference to her as well as other innovators, of the field but really don't go into depth on the history.
This book answers those questions. For we the readers do receive a clear picture of the state of nursing prior to the Nightingale Impact and the motivations for her to do what she did.
We also receive a glimpse of her personality. We generally don't visualize role models and celebrities as being human but in some celebrated state above. (Michael Jackson was once asked if he ever had to use the rest room.) So in contrast to this bigger than life perception, we see that Miss Nightingale was as human as the rest of us. Imagine Florence Nightingale actually resorting to name calling and even engaging into fisticuffs!
These all too human traits helps paint a picture of the ordinary being able to go beyond herself and accomplish the extraordinary!!!!
It's also a short book. I was actually disappointed that I finished reading it so-oooo quickly. But the brevity, I feel, takes away any excuse of people in the nursing field not reading it. But this is a history book and history books are for everyone...
not just nursing!
January 2, 2019
I enjoyed the biography but find myself puzzled by the introduction as well as the back cover summary. There must be something I missed about Miss Nightengale’s supposed “dark side.” It may be perhaps lost over time or maybe it is there and I missed it. Were Miss Nightengale, instead Mr. Nightengale, her determination and maniacal drive would have presented her as a winning mind of her time. Instead, we see her still, as the Lady with the Lamp, but it is precisely this image that changed the world of nursing and military medical care throughout the world. A very fascinating story about a very unusual woman.
May 15, 2020
Parts of the book were difficult to get through but the book was a short read. My interest in Ms Nightingale is that of being an RN who graduated from the University of Maryland. Our cap was designed based on one of Florence’s caps and originally made in England. She was a very special lady and made a difference in the lives of all of us today.
So I enjoyed the short history. I hope to read more about her.
So I enjoyed the short history. I hope to read more about her.
January 18, 2018
Mjög áhugaverð lesning um einstaka konu. Las bókina reyndar í gamalli Íslenskri þýðingu sem skýrir kannski að stjörnurnar eru aðeins þrjár.
February 16, 2018
Interesting book about a person who accomplished much.
August 29, 2018
Love to read a good book about an amazing woman--who had great vision and worked hard to make it happen.
October 23, 2021
How to read this book?Book is not opening any kindly tell me how to open or read the book?
October 19, 2024
Talk about revolutionary
June 6, 2012
Often my favorite reading is in the genre of biography or auto biography. This is a book about one of those people who made a significant difference in the world. The author presented her in a light that is usually not considered by those of us who think of Florence Nightingale as the ultimate healer. I was surprised by those negative characteristics that sometimes dominated her behavior and yet I admired her commitment, dedication, and sacrifice to what she held dear. Well worth reading.
July 1, 2023
Direct, concise, and unembellished, this quick-read biography of Florence Nightingale was wonderful. Her merciful work in Scutari was a marvel, of course, but equally fascinating was the account of the obsessive drive that propelled her through decades and cost her health and the lives of her associates. She really was a phenomenal woman.
January 29, 2020
I read the book, and I read a lot of other books about F.N. I did not see her dark side.
I hope there will be activities about her in 2020. She was born 200 years ago.
It is a Florence Nightingale-year. I find conferences about the nurse, from a medical angle. Fine. But I miss the historical and feminist angle.
I hope there will be activities about her in 2020. She was born 200 years ago.
It is a Florence Nightingale-year. I find conferences about the nurse, from a medical angle. Fine. But I miss the historical and feminist angle.
November 10, 2015
I love how this book was written. The author did a wonderful job of bringing Miss Nightingale to life, in a way the wasn't fanciful or only touching on her gifts and strengths, but also giving a glimpse at her struggles and weaknesses that are so human.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews