Reappraising Florence Nightingale

摘要

Revisionism has hardly touched Florence Nightingale, and she remains one of the great icons of the Victorian age. Despite some hostile comment, in particular from F B Smith, the popular image of her remains that of the angel of Scutari and the genius behind much medical reform and the development of nursing. However, an examination of primary sources shows that much of this reputation is based on the myths created by the popular press at the time of the Crimean war and subsequently by Cook's biography of her. This was commissioned by Nightingale's family after her death and can therefore hardly be regarded as unbiased. The Nightingale myth was given a considerable boost by Woodham-Smith's book, written in the aftermath of the second world war, a time when Britain desperately needed heroic figures. Indeed, such was the acclaim with which this book was greeted that Nightingale's reputation was largely unimpeachable for the next few decades.