Choice Review

This book explores the history of health care for the military, based on the premise that a "fuller account of history would provide information that would lead to 'better' decisions by building on successes and failures of the past." Certainly, this is a credible, practical objective. In the first eight chapters, Rostker (senior fellow, RAND) provides a very readable history of wartime casualties from ancient Greek and Roman times through WW II. The well-documented chapters include interesting data and photographs that bring the past to light. Advances in antibiotics, blood products, and medical evacuations are among the variables highlighted; the book also addresses neuropsychiatric conditions. A plus is a well-done appendix on the number of military personnel and associated casualties from the Revolutionary War to the Persian Gulf War, which provides an interesting perspective. At the same time, the book is somewhat disappointing in terms of meeting the author's objective. The final chapter is a summary based on four broad themes, but it provides very little analysis of lessons learned or implications for the future. The work's utility appears more as a background resource. The full text is available for free download at http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1164.html. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic or general history of medicine or military history collections. P. Leung University of North Texas