Lifesavers and Body Snatchers: Medical Care and the Struggle for Survival in the Great War

The death toll of the First World War would have been even greater had it not been for the efforts of the armies’ medical corps to fight for the lives of the wounded. In this lecture, historian Tim Cook describes how the doctors and nurses of the Canadian Army Medical Corps responded to the challenge before them to counter the lethal effects of disease, infection, and of modern weapons designed to defeat their skills. The methods and innovations they adopted were not restricted to the battlefield. Out of their experience grew new approaches to public health and to the treatment of physical and mental trauma which revolutionized the practice of twentieth-century medicine. But the story has a less seemly side, revealed in the records Cook has brought to light concerning the use of body parts for medical examination and for less scientific purposes during and after the war. Join us for a discussion of a lesser known legacy of the First World War and its influence on the history of public medicine and health policy in Canada up to the present day.

This lecture is a live, in-person event in Cameron Hall. You do not need to pre-register to attend – just show up.

BIOGRAPHY:

Tim Cook is the Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum. His latest book, published in September 2022, is Lifesavers and Body Snatchers, the subject of his November 4th lecture. He is the author or editor of 13 other books that have won the C.P. Stacey Prize for Military History (twice), the Ottawa Book Award (three times), the RBC Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, and the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize (twice). In 2012, Dr. Cook was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to Canadian history and in 2013 he received the Governor General’s History Award. He is a frequent commentator in the media, a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Member of the Order of Canada.