“An exceptional encyclopaedia series honouring Australian doctors who served in World War I and II.
Passion shows itself in many ways. For Colonel (retired) Robert Likeman, a military veteran and doctor with a specialty in obstetrics and gynaecology, it emerges in six meticulous volumes of short biographies of doctors who served in the two wars. By virtue of their Army connection, many of them served in later wars and those contributions are included. Likeman’s prodigious output belongs in any library with books on medicine or military history. Three volumes cover World War I (Slouch Hat Publications) and three volumes cover World War II (Halstead.)
Chapters are organized by unit, with the unit’s service history and maps. There is a biographical index of doctors, extensive notes and a helpful glossary of abbreviations. Colonel Likeman’s writing style is crisp, spare and enjoyable to read. Digging into biographies reveals a treasure trove of diverse birthplaces and class origins. There are plenty of sons or daughters of privilege who went to private schools, but also many born into modest circumstances in provincial Australian towns who went to public schools, showing that a society can generate a distinguished meritocracy if quality education is a right. I found particularly enlightening biographies of doctors born in the late nineteenth century, practicing at the dawn of insulin into the age of antibiotics and polio vaccines. Thank you Dr. Likeman for an epic achievement. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.”