Edith Cavell: Faith Before the Firing Squad

by Catherine Butcher

A compelling short biography of a British nurse whose execution by the Germans caused an outcry Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse, celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides and helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the First World War. She was arrested and subsequently court-martialed, found guilty of treason, and sentenced to death. She was shot by a German firing squad in October 1915 at the age of 49. Her execution was greeted with worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage. A woman of profound faith, she told her chaplain on the night before her execution, "Standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." Her death caused international outrage and may have contributed to America's decision to enter the war. Three films and a stage play have been written about her life, and many public buildings and streets are named after her.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, World War I, Christian

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2015

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

I had heard vaguely of Edith Cavell before reading Kathryn Atwood’s excellent book, Women Heroes of World War I, but Atwood’s book presented her in a more detailed way. Therefore, when I saw this book up on Netgalley, I requested it and got approved.

There are two things about the book that might put some readers off. The first is the length. It is a short book; I read it in less than two hours. The second is that while the book is not a saint’s life, it is also about Cavell’s faith. The second issue might put some readers off, but it is, in many ways, essential because Cavell was who she was because, in part, of her faith. The book isn’t a convert now or die book; it doesn’t bash the faith over the reader’s head; but if you are a rabid anti-deist or atheist, you might not like it.

Which is a shame really because Edith Cavell does seem to have been one hell of a woman.

Cavell was a nurse in Belgium prior to the outbreak of World War I. Upon the start of the War, she returned to Belgium and stayed there even after Occupation by Germany. She was one of group of people, including several other women, who help smuggle wound soldiers of the Triple Entente out of the area. Naturally, the Germans didn’t like this, and eventually, she was arrested, found guilty, and shot. (This is hardly a spoiler considering the book’s title).

It is too Butcher’s immense credit that while showing the reader that Cavell was a woman of Anglican Faith; she doesn’t make Cavell into a saint. Cavell has flaws, she is human. Butcher does this not by only looking at the reason for why Cavell was sent away to school, but also by looking at some of the evaluations of Cavell by her teachers and superiors. It doesn’t weaken the image of Cavell; in many ways, it strengthens it.

Butcher takes the time to show the reader how Cavell developed as a young girl and woman. She traces, briefly, the lives of Cavell’s parents, connecting that to the woman that Cavell would become. This also allows Butcher to illustrate the society that Cavell grew up in. This is furthered when Butcher looks at Cavell’s love for animals and painters such as Landseer. It isn’t just Cavell that gets painted well; it’s her world.

This background and focus on children ties into Cavell’s decision to work as a nurse. The image of World War I nurses, at least by the American public, is no doubt influenced largely by shows such as Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs. Butcher dispels this romantic image. There is no romance in Cavell’s nursing career, just hard work. Butcher details the work before the War, including when Cavell runs the hospital/nursing school where she will save soldiers’ lives.
The rescue aspect of her life story is detailed well, and Butcher does an excellent of job of not letting it overwhelm the other sections of the tale. Included in this section are also accounts of those soldiers Cavell aided. There is an interesting story of a German spy who was sent to the hospital as well.

Butcher handles Cavell’s final days quite well. She doesn’t romanticize the death, most definitely not in the way that it was done for propaganda purposes. While Cavell comes across as determined and somewhat at peace with the sentence, Butcher does not shy away for giving detail that shows Cavell as frightened. Again, this makes Cavell far more heroic.

The 100th anniversary of Cavell’s death is this year, and this book is a fitting tribute to a remarkable woman. It can be read either by adults or children of 12 or older (and this is simply due to vocab).

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography is concise and inspiring. It features a woman who would not have expected to have her life story interest others, but that is part of what makes Edith Cavell so compelling. She is the sort of woman we all hope we would be if circumstances challenged us the way they did her.

Edith's faith was a significant element of her life and story, and it is included appropriately in this book. From the day she was born until the day she died, the love of God and promise of heaven guided Edith's actions. She did not wish for recognition, only to help others. "When Reverend Gahan said, 'We shall always remember you as a heroine and a martyr,' she replied, 'Don't think of me like that, think of me only as a nurse who tried to do her duty.'"

The author demonstrates how Edith became the kind of woman who would selflessly assist others, even when she knew she was endangering herself. This vicar's daughter, governess, and nurse grew up with the desire to serve a vital part of her character. Not that she is portrayed as unbelievably perfect. Mistakes and faults of character are also explored to give readers a comprehensive picture of who the real Edith Cavell was.

She was an intelligent woman with a servant's heart who willingly gave up her lives for others. Even when Edith knew she was being spied upon by Germans, she continued to help those trying to escape. When she knew the next person she helped might be preparing to betray her, she wouldn't take the chance of turning away someone who truly needed her. Once she was convicted of her 'crimes' she worried only about those she was leaving behind.

The recent 100th anniversary of Edith's execution has stirred up renewed interest in her, and she is a woman worthy of remembering. Her strength and courage in the face of deceit and violence is an inspiration to us all.

I received this book through NetGalley. Opinions are my own.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having always known quite vaguely the story of Edith Cavell's execution during World War One, I knew nothing about her life from her birth in Norfolk, her nursing career in England and Belgium to her arrest for helping injured soldiers to escape. Her religious faith helped her to the end, in her words, not a hero but an ordinary nurse just doing her duty.

[Margaret Massey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fascinating tale of Cavell's life and death with a focus on how her religious beliefs shaped her actions. It is refreshing to read about her religious motivation in an era where such things are often airbrushed out of the picture.

Cavell is famous for saying, " Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone".

However, what she actually said was, "But this I would say, standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards any one."

This neatly shows Cavell's religious motivation and puts a very different perspective on her actions.

Finally, as a Christian (but not an Anglican) the quotes from Anglican religious texts were very useful to me in illustrating the teachings and practices that informed Cavell and her shaped her beliefs.

Thank you Catherine Butcher for redressing the balance in Cavell's story and telling the story of the importance of her faith and the great actions that it helped to inspire her to.

[Helen O'Toole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short book with only 189 pages so easily read over a few days. The author very definitely ensures that the reader understands that Edith Cavell's life was deeply bound to her Anglican faith. There are many references to the prayers that would have been said every day in her family home plus Edith Cavell's letters and diaries attest to her faith helping her endure the final, cruel death sentence. I had heard of Edith Cavell’s heroism but this book really helped me understand the depth of her bravery. In taking in injured English soldiers whilst working in German occupied Belgium, she knew her actions were seen as treasonous by the Germans. The account of the trial is chilling in the German intent to see that the death sentence was pronounced. No time for appeals: she and the brave Belgian, Philippe Baucq, were shot within 4 days of the sentence. It is said that her heroic death caused international outrage and may have contributed to America’s decision to finally enter the war.

[Katherine van Kroonenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book and a quick read. Very heavy with scripture which some may find overwhelming, and there is a fair amount of repetition, but overall a good book recognising the importance of Edith Cavell's faith which, I'm sure, other biographies would skim over.

[Tiffany Johnstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant story about a wonderfully brave woman. She was so brave and compassionate. Brilliant biography of Edith Cavell.

[Mariana Katkout · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of heroism and sacrifice

It's a very inspiring biography of
a life well-lived, courage and nobility, and strengthing faith in the face of heinous death.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving account of the life, death and faith of Edith Cavell. Well worth reading. I was in tears as I reached the final pages.

[Terri Wangard · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Someday, somehow, I am going to do something useful, something for people. They are, most of them, so helpless, so hurt and so unhappy.”

Born in December of 1865, Edith Cavell grew up in a vicar’s family. She served as a governess for ten years before spending the next twenty years as a nurse.

In 1907, Belgian surgeon Antione Depage started an independent nursing school. Nursing in Belgium was little changed from medieval times. Hospitals were run by churches, and untrained nuns looked after patients. Spiritual care came before physical care. Cleanliness was unimportant. Nurses were considered lower than servants.

Depage hired nurses from Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and Holland. The position of matron was offered to Edith Cavell on the recommendation of the mother-in-law of one of the children she’d been governess to in Belgium. The Belgians wanted a school like Florence Nightingale’s, with an Englishwoman who knew their language and lifestyle.

When World War I began, Prince Reginald de Croy and his sister Princess Marie cared for wounded Allied soldiers and helped them escape from occupied Belgium. Two wounded English soldiers were taken to Brussels, where Marie Depage, wife of the nursing school founder, directed them to Edith, beginning her role in the resistance movement.

The Germans were suspicious. They made frequent surprise visits to the hospital, looking for Allied soldiers. Edith noticed strange workmen in the street who accomplished nothing. A Zeppelin passed low over Edith’s house, watching and photographing.

In June, 1915, an Englishman attacked and destroyed a Zeppelin in mid-air. This and raids on Zeppelin hangers infuriated the Germans. Belgian independence day observations on July 21 added to their fury. Ten days later, arrests began.

Edith was arrested on August 5. The Germans tricked her by pretending to know more than they did. Her statements translated into German were falsified. On October 11, after a trial in which defense attorneys were not allowed to see the defendants beforehand, she received the death sentence. That night, a pastor said she would be remembered as a heroine and a martyr. She replied, “Think of me only as a nurse who tried to do her duty.”

At dawn on October 15, 1915, she was executed by firing squad. One bullet through the forehead and three to the chest.

Extensive quoting of the Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress, and other Christian books is included. During the Victorian age, Christianity was much more important in England, and these were common reading. At times it seems as though the intent is to indoctrinate modern readers. Verses should as “War and rumors of wars” apply to Edith only as she may have thought of them during the Boer War.

[Nicole Overmoyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Catherine Butcher's biography of English nurse Edith Cavell, I kind of feel like all the history classes I took shortchanged me by never teaching me about this extraordinary woman. Florence Nightingale is fine but Edith Cavell should have been included too.

At the end of Butcher's biography she quotes Prince Reginald de Croy as telling Edith Cavell's mother that her daughter's only crimes were "Pity and Humanity." That simple phrase essentially sums up all that Edith did during her lifetime. Raised in a Christian household, she was taught early on that giving on oneself is more important than anything else. Unlike a lot of people, she remembered that until the day she was executed fairly early in World War I - executed for the crime of helping British and French soldiers trapped in Belgium escape capture and death by the Germans. Before that, though, she was a governess, a nurse, and a teacher. The things she did were for the betterment of others.

When the war began, it didn't stop. The hospital she founded in Brussels continued to operate and it became an ideal place for soldiers to pass through.

Edith could have said no, refused to be a part of it. She could have gone home to England as her family tried to convince her to do. She didn't. She said yes. Believing that the soldiers faced being shot if captured, she said yes. And when interrogated and put on trial, she admitted to helping 200 - though Butcher contends that sources place the number at closer to 1000. Knowing that the Germans wanted death for her, she told them at least a version of the truth so that they would not go after the nurses she thought of as sisters and daughters.

And when an Anglican priest was allowed to see her before the execution and he told her that she would be remembered as a heroine and a martyr, she told him she only wanted to do good for others.

Butcher's biography focuses heavily on Cavell's religious devotion. That almost put me off the book at first but I reminded myself that Victorian England was a time of religious devotion and that such devotion, whenever and wherever it appears, should work to produce extraordinary women like Edith Cavell.

Her story is tragic in how it ended but the meaning of her life is not. What she did, that two of the women in the resistance with her were spared execution and joined the resistance movements during World War II, is proof that there is hope for us yet.

I received a copy of Edith Cavell: Faith before the firing squad through NetGalley and Lion Hudson Plc in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.

[Meghann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was surprised that this story started off with Edith before the firing squad – as it was a biography, I feel that it didn’t really add any suspense to the way the story was portrayed. Had it been a fiction book, I can imagine that starting off with an unnamed character before a firing squad would have added intrigue, and would have gripped the reader so they would want to find out who was sentenced to death and why. I don’t wish to be insensitive, given that this is a retelling of somebody’s life, but I felt that the book started where it should have ended, rather than trying to start with something dramatic, it could have been put at the end, where we could have seen how she came to be at peace with what was going to happen.
The way the book was written, I found difficult to read. There were far too many insignificant details that were included, and I found that I was skimming it because otherwise I would get lost in the dates of how long she’d known someone, and what year the events being described actually happened. Some extra information would have been good as it can help to paint a picture of what her life was really like, but most of it just felt like I was reading a person spec for a new job, and a CV of what Edith had done, and why she should be accepted to the next training programme or job.
Having said that, the book improved as I got further in, and when I say this, I mean at about 65 – 70% of the way through. I thought that it became much more interesting when it started retelling what had happened in Brussels. At that point, the details that were told mostly seemed to be relevant to knowing the background of what was occurring in the war. I think another reason that the book picked up a little bit at this point is because letters written about what was happening was included, and so there was less speculation about what Edith would have made of everything and what she thought of it. I think that it slowed after her arrest, because up until that point, the book was leading up to it. I was glad that it then talked a bit about what happened after the arrest when she was in prison, as I had forgotten most of it from the beginning of the book.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a concise and accurate biography of Edith Cavell this short book is perfectly adequate. The author is obviously sympathetic to her subject and conveys Cavell’s unconventionality and bravery very well. A little slow in the early pages, the book comes to life when describing Cavell’s extraordinary courage when helping allied soldiers in Belgium. Always sustained by her deep faith, she continued to show enormous courage right to the end. However as a cradle to grave biography the book fails on several accounts, the primary one being the author’s frequent long digressions that add nothing to the core narrative. And in particular there is simply no need to quote from scriptural writings, the Catechism, the Book of Common Prayer, the Bible and so on. Of course Cavell herself would have been familiar with these writings, but the reader doesn’t need to read long extracts from them. The author would have been better advised to stick to the biography rather than get side-tracked in this way. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile addition to books about Cavell. Just rather too pious for my taste.

[Kortney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest unbiased review. This is the first biography that I have read in 2015 so I was not sure what to expect. The reason it grabbed my attention was because of its historical significance and that it talked about a woman's journey to help others.

I found that this book was hard to get into. It seemed to me that the author took too long to get to the important part of the story. She went too far in depth of Edith's life prior to the first world war. Once I got to the actual part of the story where Catherine talked about Edith and her involvement in the War I was hooked. In addition, I found it interesting how she relied on her faith to get her through the dark times.

I would have to say that all though I enjoyed learning about Edith and hearing about her involvement in saving 200 soldiers this wasn't my favorite biography of this time that I have read. It seemed in many ways like a text book that I would have read in high school which is dull and un interesting.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even after 100 years this is a very interesting, short historical biography of a nurse from WWI. I must admit I had never heard of Nurse Cavell and I was intrigued because the title gives away the ending – she faces a firing squad! In the beginning of the book, Edith Cavell’s early life is discussed and family letters are shared (she wasn’t a saint!). Although other reviews have mentioned “padding,” complaining that long portions of the books of Nurse Edith’s life were included, I didn’t view them as padding. Rather, it was comforting to read the words that she chose to focus on as her life ended. The book picks up the pace about midway and you will admire the faith of Edith Cavell. There were over 200 soldiers whose lives she directly saved and now 100 years later, there are probably thousands of their descendants who are grateful for her actions. Enjoy! NetGalley and Lion Hudson Plc provided an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edith Cavell by Catherine Butcher.
It is sad that with 44 Years experience as a nurse and one with an interest in history, I knew so little about Edith Cavell.
This year was the one hundredth year anniversary of her death.
This book I found easy to read, interesting and enjoyable. I wish I had read it many years ago. Edith Cavell came across as an everyday person, one we might have known. Her actions were possibly a result of her great faith and her naivety. The book is written so that the reader can decide for themselves. Her life is well documented throughout, Catherine Butcher has enabled it to flow well, avoiding any great emphasis. It has documented Edith's work with the resistance. Somehow throughout all the many accolades around today Edith Cavell remains in the background, this book goes someway to let us see things differently.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this enough to read it in two sittings, but because of my personal distaste for organized religion, I had issue with large parts of the book being complete passages from the bible and from liturgical services. I was hoping for a biography of Edith Cavell, and while I got a surface portrait of this amazing and inspiring woman, I felt this was more religious tract than biography. There are ways to write a biography incorporating the subject's deep religious convictions; it is certainly a tact that is not often taken in biography's, unfortunately, this was not the way. Still, Ms. Cavell is an interesting subject and I did enjoy getting a glimpse of this extraordinary woman and war hero.

[Gillian Ashton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very much looking forward to reading this book as Ms Cavell is a heroine of mine. I have read a few other books about her so have a basic knowledge already. I was a bit put off this by the constant religious quotations. I fully understand that her faith was everything to her but I didn't really want to read so many, in fact I flicked through them as I felt it was forced upon the reader.
Other than that the book does give a basic insight into her life, betrayal and execution but theres definitely better books out there that do her more justice.

[Eileen Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many good books about the life of Edith Cavell and this is another one.
An inspiring account of a very brave lady.
Her faith took her to a land torn by war where she worked tirelessly to help both allies and enemies.
From her early life in a small village in the county of Norfolk to the capital of war ravaged Belgium, this book tells how Edith's faith sustained her throughout.
Especially poignant is the account of her betrayal, trial and subsequent execution.
Highly recommended.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've heard of Ms. Cavell's name before and this book made me a bit more curious about her. I like that the book focused on her strong faith and not just on her life itself. That being said, I definitely want to read more about Ms. Cavell's life as a nurse.

Review copy provided via NetGalley

[Melisende · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, concise, factual account of the life and death of Edith Cavell.

[Nanda Pelambi]

wowowww

[Nanda Pelambi · Rating 5 out of 5]

cool