The Maimed

A book which looks at the medical care, nursing and welfare provided for sick and wounded soldiers, and their families, during the English Civil Wars and Interregnum, 1642-1660. It challenges the received wisdom and makes some bold claims for the efforts and effectiveness of the care provided, especially by the victorious Parliamentarians.

Franz Polzer is a man who is dominated by irrational fears; even a friendly smile seems to conceal a hidden menace. He keeps the world at bay by organising his life according to the meticulous routine of his work as a bank clerk. He even rejects promotion because it brings the unknown that will threaten to upset his ordered existence. But this precarious order is disturbed by the sexual demands of his landlady. Once the first breach has occurred, he is dragged inexorably down into an abyss of degradation which ends in a grisly murder. The horror of Polzer's fall is emphasised by the matter-of-fact sobriety of Ungar's narrative style. For Stefan Zweig, The Maimed was wonderful and horrible, captivating and repulsive, unforgettable, although one would be glad to be able to forget it.