Florence Nightingale, one of the great women of her times rebelled as a child against the conventional and easy life to which she was born. Her father, a wealthy country squire, and her mother, a charming hostess and benevolent lady, expected Florence to conform to the pattern of their class and day, to marry and enjoy a comfortable and pleasant life.  But Florence had other ideas and ambitions. Her religious convictions, her deep concern for the sufferings of others, and her belief that God had singled her out to perform His work, turned her from any idea of personal life and satisfactions.

As a child, she played at being nurse; she cared for her dolls, and for any injured animal. She struggled against her parents' opposition, and prepared for her chosen path. When the Crimean War broke out, in 1854, she got her chance and took it without hesitation. A "lady" was needed to take a group of nurses to Scutari, where British soldiers were dying by hundreds. Miss Nightingale, then thirty-four, tall, personable, well-educated, took on the work.

The filth and horror of the hospital at Scutari dismayed her, but in a brief space of time she brought order out of chaos; she established routine, efficiency, cleanliness and peace.

She became the idol of the British people. Crowds waited at her hotel on her return to England, showering her with praise and gifts. She was the "Daughter of England".

Her career was only beginning. She founded a school of nursing and formulated regulations which still serve as the basis for nurses' training all over the world. She brought some degree of sanitation and health measures to India. She promoted wide-spread improvements in England's workhouse and poor laws.

Until her death at the age of ninety she was the fearless champion of the underprivileged. Florence Nightingale was one of the first modern women leaving a sheltered life to play part in public affairs. Her life makes a thrilling story.

From the book