NPR

22-Year-Old Medical Student Witnesses World War I's Horrors In 'The Winter Soldier'

In author Daniel Mason's new book, a barely trained Polish medical student is deployed to tend to wounded soldiers in a dismal field station in the frozen Carpathian Mountains.
"The Winter Soldier," by Daniel Mason. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Author and physician Daniel Mason‘s new book “The Winter Soldier” is a vivid historical fiction about a privileged 22-year-old Polish medical student who is deployed to treat critically wounded patients in a remote World War I field station in the Carpathian Mountains.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young talks with Mason about the book, which traces the just-emerging field of medicine and the slow understanding of war’s psychological toll on soldiers.

Book Excerpt: ‘The Winter Soldier’

by Daniel Mason

But of all the cases he studied, it was the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min readAmerican Government
With Federal Fraud Trial Looming, George Santos Drops Out Of New York House Race
The scandal-plagued former Republican congressman, ousted from his House seat last year, abandoned his long-shot independent bid for Congress. But he suggested his political career may not be over.
NPR4 min readAmerican Government
Why Haven't Kansas And Alabama — Among Other Holdouts — Expanded Access To Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
NPR2 min readInternational Relations
World Central Kitchen Workers Killed In Israeli Strikes Will Be Honored At Memorial
The aid workers were killed April 1 when a succession of Israeli armed drones ripped through vehicles in their convoy as they left one of World Central Kitchen's warehouses on a food delivery mission.

Related Books & Audiobooks