Florence Nightingale

Winner of the Elizabeth Longford prize for Historical Biography

Whether honoured and admired or criticized and ridiculed, Florence Nightingale has invariably been misrepresented and misunderstood. As the Lady with the Lamp, ministering to the wounded and dying of the Crimean War, she offers an enduring image of sentimental appeal and one that is permanently lodged in our national consciousness. But the awesome scale of her achievements over the course of her 90 years is infinitely more troubling - and inspiring - than this mythical simplification.

From her tireless campaigning and staggering intellectual abilities to her tortured relationship with her sister and her distressing medical condition, this vivid and immensely readable biography draws on a wealth of unpublished material and previously unseen family papers, disentangling the myth from the reality and reinvigorating with new life one of the most iconic figures in modern British history.

Castigator al premiului Elizabeth Longford pentru biografie istorica Fie ca este onorat si admirat sau criticat si ridiculizat, Florence Nightingale a fost invariabil denaturata si neinteleasa. In calitate de Doamna cu lampa, care slujeste ranitilor si moare din razboiul din Crimeea, ea ofera o imagine durabila a atractiei sentimentale si una care se afla permanent in constiinta noastra nationala.