Henry Dunant (People Who Have Helped the World S.) - Hardcover

Henry Dunant was the founder of the Red Cross. An un- known Swiss citizen running a small business, he accidentally found himself at the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the last century at Solferino, in Italy. Thousands of wounded survivors were dying from neglect, tormented by thirst, flies, maggots and disease. The military authorities just seemed to be taking it for granted that this was what happened after battles. Dunant abandoned his business trip, set about nursing the dying, and organized other local volunteers to bring cloth for bandages and clean water. He was stunned that no plans had been made for the wounded before the battle, and was convinced that if there had been a permanent body of trained volunteers, thousands of lives would have been saved. He wrote a book: A Memory of Solferino, and wrote it mom the heart. He spared his readers nothing in describing the horrors and, overwhelmed by his story, people from all over the world came to share his concern. The Red Cross was founded. International agreements were made govern- ing the treatment of the wounded and of prisoners in time of war. Over the last 125 years, the Red Cross's and Red Crescent's work has grown from the first aim of caring for the war- wounded to cover prisoners of war, missing persons, natural disasters, blood donations and first aid. It is now the largest humanitarian movement in the world with members in nearly 150 countries.