Florence Nightingale: Lady With the Lamp

by Sam Wellman

For Florence Nightingale (1820--1910), following Christ's example of service meant tending to the medical needs of the sick and injured. The famous "Lady with the Lamp," one of the most influential women of nineteenth-century England, is generally considered the founder of modern nursing. The best-known aspect of her life--nursing wounded soldiers at Scutari Hospital in Turkey during the Crimean War--comprised, in fact, a very small part of her fifty-year career, but provided the springboard from which it all began. Her good deeds to "the least of these" helped elevate nursing to the respectable profession it is today.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Gender Studies, Historical, Christian, Christian Non Fiction

202 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Sam Wellman, PhD, is a writer of numerous biographies. He has traveled to Germany many times and twice stayed for several months (in Berlin and Wittenberg). He blogs and tweets on Martin Luther and Frederick the Wise. He lives near Wichita, Kansas.

Reviews

[Cassidy Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

My, however shall I describe the love I have for Florence Nightingale? This woman chose to serve others and meet their health needs at a time in history when nursing was looked down on. Her mother and sister pouted at the idea of her taking part in such "lowly" work, and yet this astounding woman refused to allow the standards and ideologies of society to stop her from investing her heart, knowledge, study, time, and care in the sick around her. Florence lived at a time in history when germs and microorganisms had not yet been discovered, and reading some of her observations and notes to other nurses show how she was well ahead of her time. Though she could not pin down exactly why the body could be afflicted with illness, her observations on effective treatment and care helpfully restored the health of countless individuals. Though our world has discovered a great deal more on science and health, I find some of my strongest inspiration as a Nursing Assistant comes from the life and writing of Florence Nightingale.

This biography was succinct yet detailed. I loved how the author gave me a look into her family life, the obstacles she had to overcome, her successes, her failures, and overall the scope of her intriguing life.

I keep this quote around from her biography: "I think it is a mistake to say the purpose in life is to know ourselves and what we can do. Surely the purpose is to know God!" (Florence Nightingale).

[Lisa Pence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing life led by an amazing lady. She knew her calling but there were many obstacles in her way due to the time she lived in. The first three-fourths of this book is her trying to overcome so she could be who she was meant to be. I would have enjoyed more about when she reached her calling and less about the journey getting there.

[Annie Conerty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The description of the book describes it as being about her story of being "the lady with a lamp" but that is such a small part of this book. It is mostly about her full life from childhood to adulthood even after her experience of working in war times. It is not an uplifting story, but quite depressing and sad.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the life of Florence Nightingale. It begins when she was 7, and finishes with her death at the age of 90. Quite engrossing.

[Emma Filbrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am loving the Heroes of the Faith series of biographies. I borrowed the book Inspiring Women of the Faith from a friend, which contains four of these biographies. I’ve just finished Florence Nightingale: Lady With the Lamp, and loved it. Most biographies, in my experience, start out fascinating and lose steam as you go, as the subject of the book ages. This one about Florence Nightingale, however, like the previous one about Sojourner Truth, kept my interest all the way through.

Read my full review here.

[Christi Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift. There is nothing small in it, for the greatest things grow by God's smallest. But to live your life, you must discipline it. You must not fritter it away in fair purpose, erring act, inconstant will, but must make your thought, your work, your acts all work to the same end, and that end not in self but in God. This is what we call character.” ~Florence Knightingale

[John Collen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lady with the Lamp! This was the first book that my mom bought me when I'm still 5 years old. I could still remember it. :D I love this book. Though it wasn't my typical genres that time but I was enticed on the story itself on how she helped the wounded during the Crimean War. A good book to recommend.

[Ed Fritz]

Exciting read

This is an excellent book for finding out what motivated Ms .ightingale and the problems she overcame in the Crimean war. There is no suspense as you would expect in a novel, but she was an exciting and determined woman who even terrified Queen Victoria herself!

[Sekar · Rating 4 out of 5]

ini aku baca versi bhs indonesia-nya, waktu SD duluu.. sangat berkesan.. sampai bukunya jebol aku masih baca2 terus..