More than Bombs and Bandages exposes the false assumption that military nurses only nursed. Based on author Kirsty Harris' CEW Bean Prize winning PhD thesis, this is a book that is far removed from the `devotion to duty' stereotyping offering an intriguing and sometimes gut- wrenching insight into the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) during World War I. Both evidence-rich and personal, More than Bombs and Bandages focuses on the individuals, using their own words and recollections to illustrate the vast array of roles and skills the AANS had during the Great War. Harris draws on personal diaries, interviews, service records, hospital diaries and autobiographies to create an absorbing and meticulously constructed book. Kirsty Harris has both an academic and military background. She is an accomplished historian who has undertaken a considerable amount of reconstructive work to create the robust database of information and little known facts that underpin More than Bombs and Bandages. She hopes that her work will allow those both inside and outside the nursing world to gain a better appreciation of the work these nurses did during World War I.
