The Life of Florence Nightingale

What it is

This is a popular biography of Florence Nightingale by Sarah A. Southall Tooley, published in London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne by Cassell and Company. It is a memorial edition, and its date of 1916 comes from the printer's code at the end of the book. The preface says the book was written to mark the jubilee of Nightingale's departure for the Crimean War in October 1854, when she left London with thirty-eight nurses. The book is dedicated to Lady Herbert of Lea, a lifelong friend of Nightingale.

Why it matters

The book shows how Nightingale was remembered in Britain and the empire during the First World War. By linking her life to a jubilee and to her work with wounded soldiers, it presents her as a national heroine. It also shows how the story of nursing was told to general readers in that period.

Look closer

• Why was the book written as a memorial, and what does its choice of anniversary suggest about what the author wanted readers to remember?
• What does the dedication to a lifelong friend tell you about the sources the author may have used?
• Which aspects of Nightingale's life, such as her later reform work, does a memorial volume tend to play down?