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dashadashahi 's review for:
There is a lot to praise in this book. Cook weaves together a massive amount of literature and this will become an easy recommendation for those wanting a medical history of Canada and WWI. Yet, the most interesting part of this book, and what seems to be the greatest addition this book makes to the literature, is buried within the over 450 pages of writing. Indeed, the "body snatchers" aspect is interesting and brings up questions of medical consent in the professionalizing medical bodies, "othering" soldiers' bodies (those that were damaged beyond repair), and the contradiction of narrative that argued for the christlike and sacred sacrifice of Canadian soldiers. These points are surely touched upon (sort of), but they aren't deeply explored or greatly analyzed and they get lost as chapters jump around to various other topics, often not touching on the organ/body-part harvesting aspect at all. Nonetheless, it's an important, and worthwhile read, although if you're familiar with the literature you'll be skimming most of it to get to the more substantial parts.