Overview

During and after World War I, policy makers, public health advocates, and veterans laid the groundwork for the extension of government-sponsored medical care to millions of former service members. In the process, they built a pillar of American social policy. In Burdens of War, Jessica L. Adler explores how the establishment of the veterans' health system marked a reimagining of modern veterans' benefits and signaled a pathbreaking validation of the power of professionalized institutional medical care. Adler reveals that a veterans' health system came about incrementally, amid skepticism from legislators, doctors, and army officials concerned about the burden of long-term obligations, monetary or otherwise, to ex-service members. She shows how veterans' welfare shifted from centering on pension and domicile care programs rooted in the nineteenth century to direct access to health services. She also traces the way that fluctuating ideals about hospitals and medical care influenced policy at the dusk of the Progressive Era; how race, class, and gender affected the health-related experiences of soldiers, veterans, and caregivers; and how interest groups capitalized on a tense political and social climate to bring about change. The book moves from the 1910s-when service members requested better treatment, Congress approved new facilities and increased funding, and elected officials expressed misgivings about who should have access to care-to the 1930s, when the economic crash prompted veterans to increasingly turn to hospitals for support while bureaucrats, politicians, and doctors attempted to rein in the system. By the eve of World War II, the roots of what would become the country's largest integrated health care system were firmly planted and primed for growth. Drawing readers into a critical debate about the level of responsibility America bears for wounded service members, Burdens of War is a unique and moving case study.

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9781421422879

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Reviews

Adler's Burdens of War is a must-read for specialists and nonspecialists alike, and is one of the most important books on veteran policy of the twenty-first century -- Evan Sullivan * H-Net Reviews * [A] highly detailed and well-crafted account of the political dimension behind health care. -- Bobby A. Wintermute * Business History Review * This is a most welcoming contribution on the history of a U.S. service... The book expands the debate... -- Alain Touwaide * Doody's Reviews * Adler has produced a worthwhile work, one that helps us understand how America built its own National Health Service but for only one class of patients. * H-Diplo * Adler's book deals more with the beginnings of veterans' health care than its current state and will appeal to those with a historical interest in the program. The criticisms of today, she notes, are not so different from those voiced a hundred years ago. * Health Affairs * This book is thoughtful, well researched, and timely. It is little wonder Adler earned the Bancroft Award for the dissertation version. Burdens of War will long be an invaluable resource, particularly for those studying the role of the interwar years in creating modern America. * Journal of Military History * Scholars, health-care providers, policy makers, and general audiences should be highly interested in the book. * Armed Forces & Society *

Scholars, health-care providers, policy makers, and general audiences should be highly interested in the book. * Armed Forces & Society * This book is thoughtful, well researched, and timely. It is little wonder Adler earned the Bancroft Award for the dissertation version. Burdens of War will long be an invaluable resource, particularly for those studying the role of the interwar years in creating modern America. * Journal of Military History * Adler's book deals more with the beginnings of veterans' health care than its current state and will appeal to those with a historical interest in the program. The criticisms of today, she notes, are not so different from those voiced a hundred years ago. * Health Affairs * Adler has produced a worthwhile work, one that helps us understand how America built its own National Health Service but for only one class of patients. * H-Diplo * This is a most welcoming contribution on the history of a U.S. service... The book expands the debate... -- Alain Touwaide * Doody's Reviews * [A] highly detailed and well-crafted account of the political dimension behind health care. -- Bobby A. Wintermute * Business History Review * Adler's Burdens of War is a must-read for specialists and nonspecialists alike, and is one of the most important books on veteran policy of the twenty-first century -- Evan Sullivan * H-Net Reviews *

Scholars, health-care providers, policy makers, and general audiences should be highly interested in the book. -Armed Forces & Society This book is thoughtful, well researched, and timely. It is little wonder Adler earned the Bancroft Award for the dissertation version. Burdens of War will long be an invaluable resource, particularly for those studying the role of the interwar years in creating modern America. -Journal of Military History Adler's book deals more with the beginnings of veterans' health care than its current state and will appeal to those with a historical interest in the program. The criticisms of today, she notes, are not so different from those voiced a hundred years ago. -Health Affairs Adler has produced a worthwhile work, one that helps us understand how America built its own National Health Service but for only one class of patients. -H-Diplo This is a most welcoming contribution on the history of a U.S. service... The book expands the debate... -Alain Touwaide, Doody's Reviews [A] highly detailed and well-crafted account of the political dimension behind health care. -Bobby A. Wintermute, Business History Review Adler's Burdens of War is a must-read for specialists and nonspecialists alike, and is one of the most important books on veteran policy of the twenty-first century -Evan Sullivan, H-Net Reviews

Author Information

Jessica L. Adler is an assistant professor in the Departments of History and Health Policy & Management at Florida International University.

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