Bethune is the first to be profiled in the newly launched Quest Library, a series of biographies of famous Canadians including Pauline Johnson and Tommy Douglas.
Bethune emerges a far more interesting and complex man and a larger figure in importance than I remember from public school descriptions. Through John Wilson’s highly readable narrative, we learn he was an inventor, creating many innovative medical instruments. His work on tuberculosis, thoracic surgery, and blood transfusions – especially the almost magical effect they could have on dying soldiers and the need to perform them as soon as possible and close to the front – might be far more widely recognized today were it not for his political convictions. A profound anti-fascist, Bethune was drawn to communism through his compassion for the wounded in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Public policies and attitudes during the Cold War and after severely undermined Bethune’s reputation. He saved many lives with mobile medical units in China and is venerated there still for the work he pioneered, but was not as appreciated at home.
Writer John Wilson makes the private man come alive. Bethune’s love for Frances Penny, his need to dominate others, his capacity to shock, an exaggerated generosity combined with stiff-necked arrogance – these and other elements of his forceful personality are well documented with fascinating anecdotes. This is not a book for those with a weak constitution. Details of war and medical description are thorough and explicit. The chronology at the back is an excellent addition to the gripping story of a larger-than-life Canadian hero.
Norman Bethune: A Life of Passionate Conviction