Nursing Through Shot & Shell

Nursing Through Shot and Shell is the previously unpublished memoir of Beatrice Hopkinson, who served in France as a Territorial Nursing Sister from 1917-19. Beatrice worked close to the front line at casualty clearing stations, and her poignant account reveals the intense strain: 'I never realized what the word duty meant until this War. To stand at one's post, never flinching and trying to keep the boys cheerful; all the time wondering when our time would come.' The memoir reveals the lighter side of wartime life, with entertainments, travel and enduring friendships. Beatrice also describes the practical realities of war in vivid detail sleeping in dug outs, dodging bombs and avoiding rats 'as big as a good sized kitten'. A fascinating, close-up view of one women's life during wartime.

Dr Vivien Newman is a respected expert on women in the First World War, with a particular interest in uncovering the lives of women overlooked by other historians. She is on the judging panel for the annual war poetry competitions organized by Never Such Innocence and has previously published numerous titles with Pen & Sword.