A Dislocated World: Letters from a World War II Surgeon

By December 1941, Lee Gordon Kendall was a respected surgeon in Massachusetts with a new house, a loving wife, and two adorable little girls.

He was also a secret recruit in the war against the Nazis.

Lee was part of the 5th General Hospital, which had been formed by alumni of Harvard Medical School. Following the official entry of the United States into World War II, he served in hospitals across Great Britain until after VE Day.

He regularly wrote his children and his wife, Priscilla, who was a registered nurse and his confidant in medical matters. Lee’s commitment to surgery and his social connections to men like Elliott Carr Cutler and Robert Zollinger put him in a unique position to observe the war as well as the medical advances that came with it. His letters—touching, charming, and at times offensive and profane—provide a fascinating chronicle of a time of great change. (70,000 words)