Surgeon in Blue
Jonathan Letterman, the Civil War Doctor Who Pioneered Battlefield Care
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Narrated by:
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Kyle Munley
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By:
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Scott McGaugh
About this listen
The first full-length biography of the Civil War surgeon who, over the course of the war’s bloodiest battles - from Antietam to Gettysburg - redefined military medicine.
Jonathan Letterman was an outpost medical officer serving in Indian country in the years before the Civil War, responsible for the care of just hundreds of men. But when he was appointed the chief medical officer for the Army of the Potomac, he revolutionized combat medicine over the course of four major battles - Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg - that produced unprecedented numbers of casualties. He made battlefield survival possible by creating the first organized ambulance corps and a more effective field hospital system. He imposed medical professionalism on a chaotic battlefield. Where before 20 percent of the men were unfit to fight because of disease, squalid conditions, and poor nutrition, he improved health and combat readiness by pioneering hygiene and diet standards. Based on original research, and with stirring accounts of battle and the struggle to invent and supply adequate care during impossible conditions, this new biography recounts Letterman’s life from his small-town Pennsylvania beginnings to his trailblazing wartime years and his subsequent life as a wildcatter and the medical examiner of San Francisco. At last, here is the missing portrait of a key figure of Civil War history and military medicine. His principles of battlefield care continue to be taught to military commanders and first responders.
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- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Gettysburg Rebels is the gripping true story of five young men who grew up in Gettysburg, moved south to Virginia in the 1850s, joined the Confederate army - and returned "home" as foreign invaders for the great battle in July 1863. Drawing on rarely seen documents and family histories, as well as military service records and contemporary accounts, Tom McMillan delves into the backgrounds of Wesley Culp, Henry Wentz, and the three Hoffman brothers in a riveting tale of Civil War drama and intrigue.
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Interesting unbiased look at American history
- By Amazon Customer on 03-02-23
By: Tom McMillan
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Braddock's Defeat
- The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution
- By: David L. Preston
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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On July 9, 1755, British and colonial troops under the command of General Edward Braddock suffered a crushing defeat to French and Native American enemy forces in Ohio Country. Known as the Battle of the Monongahela, the loss altered the trajectory of the Seven Years' War in America, escalating the fighting and shifting the balance of power. An unprecedented rout of a modern and powerful British army by a predominantly Indian force, Monongahela shocked the colonial world.
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great history book
- By D. Littman on 01-09-16
By: David L. Preston
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The Moro War
- How America Battled a Muslim Insurgency in the Philippine Jungle, 1902-1913
- By: James R. Arnold
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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As the global war on terror enters its second decade, the United States military is engaged with militant Islamic insurgents on multiple fronts. But the post-9/11 war against terrorists is not the first time the United States has battled such ferocious foes. The forgotten Moro War, lasting from 1902 to 1913 in the islands of the southern Philippines, was the first confrontation between American soldiers and their allies and a determined Muslim insurgency.
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a little dry but good info
- By Paraglox on 03-05-15
By: James R. Arnold
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The Blood of Heroes
- The 13-Day Struggle for the Alamo - and the Sacrifice That Forged a Nation
- By: James Donovan
- Narrated by: James Donovan
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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On February 23, 1836, a Mexican army thousands of soldiers strong attacked a group of roughly 200 Americans holed up in an abandoned mission just east of San Antonio, Texas. For nearly two weeks, the massive force lay siege to the makeshift fort, spraying its occupants with unremitting waves of musket and cannon fire. Then, on March 6th, at 5:30 A.M., the Mexican troops unleashed a final devastating assault: divided into four columns, they rushed into the Alamo and commenced a deadly hand-to-hand fight.
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Blood and History Runs Off Every Page
- By Lynn on 08-25-12
By: James Donovan
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Washington's Immortals
- The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution
- By: Patrick K. O’Donnell
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In August 1776, a little over a month after the Continental Congress had formally declared independence from Britain, the revolution was on the verge of a sudden and disastrous end. General George Washington found his troops outmanned and outmaneuvered at the Battle of Brooklyn, and it looked like there was no escape. But thanks to a series of desperate rear-guard attacks by a single heroic regiment, famously known as the Immortal 400, Washington was able to evacuate his men, and the nascent Continental Army lived to fight another day.
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Spectacular
- By Robert Everman on 04-26-16
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The Great Anglo-Boer War
- By: Byron Farwell
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 23 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great Boer War (1899-1902) - more properly the Great Anglo-Boer War - was one of the last romantic wars, pitting a sturdy, stubborn pioneer people fighting to establish the independence of their tiny nation against the British Empire at its peak of power and self-confidence. It was fought in the barren vastness of the South African veldt, and it produced in almost equal measure extraordinary feats of personal heroism, unbelievable examples of folly and stupidity, and many incidents of humor and tragedy.
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There are no winners in war, only victims.
- By LtTora on 07-19-20
By: Byron Farwell
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Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots
- By: Bill O'Reilly, David Fisher
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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The must-have companion to Bill O'Reilly's historical docudrama Legends and Lies: The Patriots, an exciting and eye-opening look at the Revolutionary War through the lives of its leaders. The American Revolution was neither inevitable nor a unanimous cause. It pitted neighbors against each other as loyalists and colonial rebels faced off for their lives and futures. These were the times that tried men's souls: No one was on stable ground, and few could be trusted.
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Couldn't stop listening!
- By Erin on 08-05-16
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
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The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (Campaigns and Commanders Series)
- By: Edward G. Longacre
- Narrated by: Aaron Killian
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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When Union and Confederate forces squared off along Bull Run on July 21, 1861, the Federals expected this first major military campaign would bring an early end to the Civil War. But when Confederate troops launched a strong counterattack, both sides realized the war would be longer and costlier than anticipated. First Bull Run, or First Manassas, set the stage for four years of bloody conflict that forever changed the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. It also introduced the commanders, tactics, and weaponry that would define the American way of war through the turn of the twentieth century.
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Best book of this early battle
- By Bradley Behrhorst on 09-02-22
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General George Washington
- A Military Life
- By: Edward G. Lengel
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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This comprehensive military biography of George Washington entertainingly examines Washington's capacity as a military leader. Acclaimed historian Edward G. Lengel, an associate editor of the University of Virginia's Papers of George Washington project, bases this engrossing work on the most extensive collection of Washington's personal correspondence.
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an embarassment of richs about the Revolution
- By D. Littman on 07-03-05
By: Edward G. Lengel
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The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: Part 1: The Early Years, West Point, Mexico
- By: Ulysses S. Grant
- Narrated by: Peter Johnson
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States and commander of the Union forces in the Civil War, tells the story of his life in his own words. In this opening volume, Grant covers his early years, including his time at the U.S. military academy at West Point and his service during the Mexican War under Zachary Taylor. Grant wrote his memoirs in order to rescue his family from debt and they were published as he lay dying of throat cancer. Today, they are an American classic.
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U.S Grant: A Man of Intelligence and Dignity
- By Robert W. Gillespie on 08-28-03
By: Ulysses S. Grant
What listeners say about Surgeon in Blue
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- C. Scott Kippen
- 06-16-16
Great content, ok Narration
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Interesting listen. Our modern battle-field medicine practices come down for Jonathan Ledermen.
How could the performance have been better?
The narration is, sadly, the lower point of this book. It is serviceable, but it is very monotone and lifeless.
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- Donna Card
- 09-18-16
love
love to have the time to get the chance to get the best regards to my account and I will be there for you
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- Mike
- 06-10-16
PERFORMANCE WOES DETRACT FROM STORYLINE
What did you like best about Surgeon in Blue? What did you like least?
The story about Jonathan Letterman and his life was compelling. The way that he was able to influence McClellan and others was never explained.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Surgeon in Blue?
Certainly, Letterman's accomplishments in expanding the purview of the medical corps. But, I had an uneasiness that some of the changes were not his innovations, but those of European military physicians.
What didn’t you like about Kyle Munley’s performance?
Munley continuously made factual errors that are so blatant that even the casual Civil War enthusiast could pick them out. For example, it's not John Longstreet, but James. It's not A. G. Hill, its A. P. Hill. There weren't 33,000 casualties at Antietam, there were closer to 23,000. And, then there was the mispronunciations. His performance was only memorable in the frequency of these problems.
Was Surgeon in Blue worth the listening time?
Probably. Although much of it was extraneous material that only tangentially affected the thesis of the book.
Any additional comments?
The author, in attempting to put into context the challenges Letterman faced, wrote about several battles, how they unfolded, etc. This seemed like a way to fill the pages, rather than be a vivid description. Moreover, they were brought with oversimplifications and omitted key facts.
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- Rick
- 09-25-16
Maybe it reads better than the audio version.
I had this title in my queue for quite a while, finally getting around to it this week. I was really hoping for some gripping battlefield triage stories, and some detail on what the day-to-day rigor would be for (Letterman) or any surgeon for that matter. Unfortunately, the author never really takes you there. It seems (to me), he spends a painful amount of time telling back stories and anecdotal sidebars about several people/soldiers associated with the Letterman that he gets sidetracked and thus loses me nearly every chapter.
Many of the historical notes he mentions regarding the battles, and leaders (even though he clearly warns readers in the preface that the book will NOT be about battles and leaders) I and the average Civil War amateur will already know. And there are more than a few chapters where I found myself asking who the book was about since the author takes liberties to expound on Letterman's associates more than are necessary though in hind sight, with Letterman dying at a relatively young age (just after he misdiagnoses his wife which causes her to die) adds to the irony of Letterman's surgical lore.
Even considering the aforementioned, maybe the book itself would have been a decent read instead of the audio version because the narration does nothing to help the story along. It was...Horrible!
Try it for yourself and call me a liar if you like it. You might. There is some decent dialog, but if you're looking for a solid biography on strictly Civil War doctor stuff, this title isn't the answer. Then again, you find interest in the hospital administration (I wasn't) which there is plenty of.
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- oldgal
- 05-30-19
Read by a robot?
This book is fascinating in its description of Civil War Medicine and some of the changes leading up to what practices were considered the Gold Standard of the day. The reader, however, is a problem for me. His enuncaiton was very good, his pronunciation was fair, and his tone sounded like a robot was reading it. I put it down a few years ago because I couldn't stand the reader. I'm almost finished listening to it now because I wanted the information. Such a good book -- would have read it myself except that I'm short on time -- which is why I have Audible in the first place.
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