cover image Children of the Siege

Children of the Siege

Pauline Cutting. St. Martin's Press, $15.95 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-312-02557-1

A British surgeon who volunteered to go to Beirut here gives an account of her 18 months in a Palestinian camp. In addition to describing the stressful atmosphere of a camp under siege, Cutting captures the spirit in which doctors and nurses from all parts of the world labored to save lives; particularly poignant are their relationships with suffering, wounded children. Their own lives at risk from bombings and carnage, these medical personnel rendered heroic service to the interns of Bourj al Barajneh. Cutting's report is filled with her compassion for the Palestinians and Lebanese disabled by civil war; it will leave readers filled with admiration for those humanitarians who offered help in a hostile, politically and religiously complex environment. Cutting was awarded an OBE for her work in Beirut. Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.)