  | Soldier's friend : Walt Whitman's extraordinary service in the American Civil War Author: Golio, Gary | |
| Price: $23.78 | ||
Summary:
Walt Whitman is celebrated as an iconic American poet, but few know of the crucial and heroic role he played tending to the wounded and dying in Civil War hospitals.
| Illustrator: | Lewis, E. B |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (07/01/24)
Booklist (06/01/24)
The Hornbook (00/09/24)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 06/01/2024 In describing how Whitman devotedly gave aid and comfort to thousands of wounded Civil War soldiers as a volunteer nurse, Golio pays tribute to a great soul who matched deep wells of compassion with equally profound love for both his country and its people. Brief pull quotes from his poems and letters give the poet a personal voice, and his gray-bearded figure—at once approachable and charismatic—lights up Lewis’ hospital scenes. Though the patients in those scenes show no major wounds and the facilities look cleaner than the era’s probably ever were, impressionistic illustrations of twisted corpses on a battlefield and blood dripping from an American flag strongly evoke the wrenching tragedy of that (or any) war. In an essay attached to the closing set of period photos, the author holds up “Walt’s example of service” as “a story of what one person can do” in response to overwhelming catastrophe. When, once, a bedridden patient fearfully confessed that he was actually a “rebel soldier,” Whitman only took his hand. “There were no sides here.” - Copyright 2024 Booklist.
