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This book is a quick look at the history of surgery and medical teams during wartime, especially those wars of the late 19th century and the 20th-21st centuries. It does provide an interesting point of view from the Australian side of the various conflicts (the author is an Australian physician) but it is not a book for the squeamish because of the horrific war injuries that are detailed in both prose and pictures. Overall the book lacks coherency; there is so much that the author is trying to do here that the book’s goal of elucidating the evolution of its subject ultimately suffers. While there is a lot of good information hidden a reader would be well-advised to go elsewhere for a better treatment of the history and evolution of war surgery. –-By Laura Hiatt-Smith, Public Services Librarian
Ronson, Jon. The Psychopath Test: A Journey through the Madness Industry. New York: Riverhead Books, 2011. (616.8582 R774p)
A potential hoax leads the author on an unexpected journey into the world of psychopathology and of madness in general. This interesting investigation pulls Ronson from an asylum for the criminally insane to the boardroom of a CEO, from the psychiatrist’s couch to a police profiler’s handbook; replete with his own self-deprecating barbs and humorous tone. Although he is serious about what he is doing, he keeps what would otherwise be a heavy subject light and surprisingly enjoyable, creating awareness but not delving too deeply into analysis. This is a fun little book that leaves any conclusions gained or lessons learned to be done so by the reader. --By Laura Hiatt-Smith, Public Services Librarian
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