Dunant's Dream: War, Switzerland and the History of the Red Cross
Author
Caroline Moorehead.
Publisher
HarperCollins
Format
paperback, Illustrated
ISBN
0006388833
Pages/Publication Date
780/1998
Daedalus Item Code
51282
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Description
The Red Cross was the inspiration—the dream—of Henri Dunant, a 31-year-old Swiss businessman appalled by the lack of medical care for injured soldiers during the battle of Solferino in 1859. He set out to create an international organization, which was not only to forever alter the fate of those wounded in any war, but also moved rapidly into humanitarian law, refugee work, prison conditions, and the tracking of people parted by warfare around the globe. Today the Red Cross has 137 national societies and 250 million members. Yet it remains an inscrutable institution—very much the same animal today as in the 1870s—governed by the Swiss alone. Caroline Moorehead was granted unrestricted access to the long-closed archives in Geneva. Her book traces the origins of the organization and uncovers some startling truths about the Red Cross and its relationship with some of the most horrific political regimes of the 20th century. The book is illustrated with black and white photos.
"One of those little sub-plots of history which far from being dull or peripheral represents the shifting moralities of an entire age.... What emerges is no less than a modern Manichaean epic: the unarmed forces of good pitched against man's ingenious and tireless capacity for cruelty.... An excellent book."—Sunday Telegraph (London)
