Remarkable Story Of Great Ormond St Hospital - The Child First And
Always

Product Description

It has been said that " The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only recently begun to awake'. This nightmare was particularly evident on the streets of Victorian London when society was going through a massive & tumultuous change. In the nineteenth century, the population in Britain trebled from 10 million to 32 million bringing with it numerous social problems, principally poverty & attendant ill-health. Many of the victims of this upheaval were children who made up 40 per cent of the population (compared to 20 per cent now). This led to an increased focus on the role children played in society seen most famously in the writings of Charles Dickens. Indeed Charles Dickens became one of the chief supporters of the new children's hospital founded at Great Ormond St to alleviate infant suffering & death. The ensuing history of the hospital is no less intriguing & this book charts its rise to become a world famous institution, surviving the blitz, pioneering many medical procedures & saving many lives. Wonderful pictures accompany the fascinating text along with celebrity anecdotes & stories from the children themselves.