*WINNER OF THE 2023 OTTAWA BOOK AWARD*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 TEMPLER MEDAL FOR BEST BOOK*

From Canada’s top war historian, a definitive medical history of the Great War, illuminating how the carnage of modern battle gave birth to revolutionary life-saving innovations. It brings to light shocking revelations of the ways the brutality of combat and the necessity of agonizing battlefield decisions led to unimaginable strain for men and women of medicine who fought to save the lives of soldiers.

Medical care in almost all armies during the Great War, and especially in the Canadian medical services, was sophisticated and constantly evolving. Vastly more wounded soldiers were saved than lost. Doctors and surgeons prevented disease from decimating armies, confronted ghastly wounds from chemical weap-ons, remade shattered bodies, and struggled to ease soldiers’ battle-haunted minds. After the war, the hard lessons learned by doctors and nurses were brought back to Canada. A new Department of Health created guidelines in the aftermath of the 1918–1919 influ-enza pandemic, which had killed 55,000 Canadians and millions around the world. In a grim irony, the fight to improve civilian health was furthered by the most destructive war up to that point in human history.

But medical advances were not the only thing brought back from Europe: Lifesavers and Body Snatchers exposes the disturbing story of the harvesting of human body parts in medical units behind the lines. Tim Cook has spent over a decade investigating the history of Canadian medical doctors removing the body parts of slain soldiers and transporting their brains, lungs, bones, and other organs to the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) in London, England. Almost 800 individual body parts were removed from the dead and sent to London, where they were stored, treated, and presented in exhibition galleries. After being exhibited there, the body parts were displayed in Canada. This uncovered history has never been told before and is part of the hidden legacy of the medical war.

Based on deep archival research and unpublished letters of soldiers and medical personnel, Lifesavers and Body Snatchers is a powerful narrative, told in Cook’s literary style, which reveals how the medical services supported the soldiers at the front and forged a profound legacy in shaping Canadian public health in the decades that followed.

"The perception of medical care on the Great War battlefield recalls scenes from the American Civil War fifty years earlier: blood-soaked surgeons hacking off limbs with grim determination as broken men crawled into their dirty operating rooms. This couldn't be more wrong. Medical care in almost all armies, and especially in the Canadian medical services, was sophisticated and constantly evolving, with vastly more wounded soldiers saved than lost. After the war, the hard lessons learned by civilian doctors who were temporarily in military uniform were brought back to Canada. A new Department of Health created guidelines in the aftermath of the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic, which had killed 50,000 Canadians and millions around the world. In a grim irony, the fight to save soldiers' lives and improve civilian health was furthered by the most destructive war up to that point in human history. But medical advances were not the only thing brought back from Europe: Life Savers and Body Snatchers exposes the shocking story of the exploitation of human body parts during the Great War. Tim Cook has spent over a decade investigating the hidden history of Canadian medical doctors harvesting the body parts of slain Canadian soldiers and transporting their brains, lungs, bones, and other tissue or bones to the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) in London. At least 1,200 individual Canadian body parts were removed from dead soldiers and sent to London, where they were stored, treated, and some put on display in exhibition galleries at the RCS. After being exhibited there, the body parts were displayed several times in both Montreal and Hamilton in the early 1920s. Life Savers and Body Snatchers will be the definitive medical history of the Canadian forces in the Great War, and a broader look into the medical advances that came from the carnage."--