Clara Barton’s Civil War

Clara Barton’s Civil War: Between Bullet and Hospital 
Donald C. Pfanz
Hardcover; 228 pages
Westholme Publishing (2018)

In Clara Barton’s Civil War, author Donald Pfanz provides a thought-provokingly fair and accurate accounting of her nursing accomplishments during the war. Using Barton’s own wartime diary and letters, Pfanz illustrates how post-war embellishments by Barton herself helped create a more legendary story than the facts often support. The author rightly establishes, however, that Barton’s genuine efforts on behalf of wounded soldiers were monumental enough to need no exaggeration. The book is a well-written and effortless read that will appeal to all those interested in Civil War medicine and the nursing profession.