These two books [Collected Works of Florence Nightingale, Volumes 8 and 9] cannot fail to be welcomed additions to the resource available to scholars of the Victorian age.... Nightingale was both a quintessential Victorian and a major reformer. Her writings illuminate many murky corners of Victorian life as well as the formidable level of activity of liberal reformers.... [M]ost readers will discover new and fascinating material. Nightingale's sharp, sometimes abrasive, wit and insight mean that much is a delight to read. Many nurses, for example, will give a wry smile when reading Nightingale's comment that 'people even now [1897] are not accustomed to the idea that nursing is a distinct department ... and not only a supplement to the doctors.' Then there are her occasional outbursts of frustration: 'All doctors to be locked up in lunatic asylums by act of Parliament. And all clergy and all men' -- and that was just the beginning of that particular note!... These volumes are essential purchases for any institution catering for scholars of the Victorian age.

''These two books [Collected Works of Florence Nightingale, Volumes 8 and 9] cannot fail to be welcomed additions to the resource available to scholars of the Victorian age.... Nightingale was both a quintessential Victorian and a major reformer. Her writings illuminate many murky corners of Victorian life as well as the formidable level of activity of liberal reformers.... [M]ost readers will discover new and fascinating material. Nightingale's sharp, sometimes abrasive, wit and insight mean that much is a delight to read. Many nurses, for example, will give a wry smile when reading Nightingale's comment that 'people even now [1897] are not accustomed to the idea that nursing is a distinct department ... and not only a supplement to the doctors.' Then there are her occasional outbursts of frustration: 'All doctors to be locked up in lunatic asylums by act of Parliament. And all clergy and all men' -- and that was just the beginning of that particular note!... These volumes are essential purchases for any institution catering for scholars of the Victorian age.''

The Nightingale project ranks with both the Gladstone diaries and the Disraeli letters as a major undertaking in the field of Victorian-era scholarship, and therefore is of surpassing value to historians of the period, as well as to general readers.

[I]t is clear that this is an academic project of the highest importance and integrity. It will have an impact on the work of scholars far beyond the immediate field of health history. Nightingale's interests were wide-ranging and her correspondence included some of the leading thinkers of her day....The editing of these volumes is exemplary. Every reference has been followed up, including the identification of minor dramatis personae. Important personalities are accorded short biographies. On every page there are biblical allusions, which are faithfully identified. Each thematic section has an introductory essay and these are amplified by a full outline of Nightingale's life and thought in volume 1. This project makes a major contribution to scholarship which will be of permanent value.

The details and explications of her views...are presented in carefully annotated and insightful editorial discussions....[These volumes] provide a more complete understanding of this complex woman, extending our appreciation of her much beyond the 'The Lady with the Lamp' legend.... The product of rigorous scholarship, of meticulous historical research--and a labour of love.

The Collected Works will allow us to see for the first time the full complexity of this extraordinary and multifacted woman. It will be a tool of enormous value not only to Nightgale scholars and biographers, but also to historians of a wide variety of aspects of Victorian society: war, the army, public health nursing, religion, India, women's issues and so on.