Hospital Sketches from the Civil War

A good fit of illness proves the value of health; real danger tries one's mettle; and self-sacrifice sweetens character. Through a series of letters sent home while serving as a volunteer nurse for the Union Army, Louisa May Alcott created a raw and honest story of battlefield medicine during the American Civil War. Featuring a series of compassionate portraits of the soldiers she encountered, Hospital Sketches both recounted the desperate struggles of hospital life during wartime and gave a per