Book Description
A nurse can't open this book to any page without feeling proud, appreciated, and essential. The high quality graphics are astounding. The reading is spellbinding. Postcards of Nursing simply soars. Tracing not so much the history of nursing per se, but rather nursing’s articulation with the major aspects of 20th century culture, society and style , this lavishly illustrated book features picture postcards dated from 1893 to 2002 from over 70 countries. The more than 580 full-color images were selected from the Zwerdling Nursing Archives, which is now being displayed by the National Library of Medicine. The Art: Children's illustrations, humor, art nouveau, art deco, impressionism, modernism, futurism, fantasy art, realism, advertising, propaganda, manga...everything! The Photographs: Royalty as nurses, actresses as nurses, nurses from over 70 countries, unique Americana, nursing during ten major wars, rare hospital interiors, clinical specialties, etc. The Text: Narrative chapter introductions provide context for the images, and captions offer insights into the pictures. End notes and a bibliography offer additional support to anyone interested in more detail. There is also a full index. No other nursing history or nursing art book is like Postcards of Nursing. If you plan to buy one book, either for yourself, a nurse, or anyone who has come in contact with a nurse, this is the one. Postcards of Nursing: A Worldwide Tribute has been awarded the 2004 Book of the Year award by the American Journal of Nursing.

Book Info
Tracing the history of nursing, lavishly illustrated text features picture postcards dated from 1893 to 2002. Includes more than 580 full-color postcards depicting nurses worldwide, their profession, and their contribution to healthcare. Cards were collected from the Zwerdling Nursing Archives and come from all over the world.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Selected from among the more than 4,500 cards collected in the Zwerdling Nursing Archives - the world's largest collection of nursing postcard images - these exceptional scenes take you on a unique journey through the last hundred years of nursing care.

This lavishly illustrated full-color art book depicts more than a century of nursing practice worldwide through more than 580 postcards. The postcards reflect nursing practice from the 1890s to the present and represent more than 65 countries, particularly the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The images within the book represent the complete range of artist-drawn and photographic interpretations of 20th century nursing, including children's illustrations, art nouveau, modernism, photographs of royalty and performers as nurses, and graphic aspects of nursing history which have not been previously accessible. Narrative chapter introductions provide context for the images, and legends offer insights into the pictures. Endnotes and a bibliography offer additional support to anyone interested in more detail on each postcard.

Author's Comment's:

Postcards of Nursing is the most fascinating book on nursing ever published. Sounds like braggadocio at worst or poor form at best, doesn't it? However, Postcards of Nursing really is a unique nursing art/history book, and the reason it was created was so that you might become inspired by the book's unique depictions of nursing. The book itself is a tribute to nursing.

In fact, I think it *important* that folks, nurses or otherwise, see the images, and that's why the over-the-top (but honest) opening statement.

When I first proposed the book to Lippincott four years ago, I made a verifiable statement that "Anyone who sees even one double-page spread of this work will be interested in seeing more." To date, no one has disagreed.

The book is not only entertaining and informative, it is also therapeutic, especially if you are a nurse returning home from a particularly hard shift and want to kick back with something refreshing which reminds you again why you became a nurse in the first place. (As such it makes a great gift to a special nurse. Nurses don't get paid all that much: many probably wouldn't buy a book this expensive for themselves, especially without having first seen it....and it's hard to find in stores.)

Postcards of Nursing recently won the 2004 AJN Nursing Book of the Year Award in its class and has also received a Medal of Excellence from the Chief of the Army Nurse Corps.

SYNOPSIS

This lavishly illustrated full-color art book depicts more than a century of nursing practice worldwide through more than 580 postcards. The postcards reflect nursing practice from the 1890s to the present and represent more than 65 countries, particularly the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The images within the book represent the complete range of artist-drawn and photographic interpretations of 20th century nursing, including children's illustrations, art nouveau, modernism, photographs of royalty and performers as nurses, and graphic aspects of nursing history which have not been previously accessible. Narrative chapter introductions provide context for the images, and legends offer insights into the pictures. Endnotes and a bibliography offer additional support to anyone interested in more detail on each postcard.