부산대학교 도서관

By the end of WW II, many Britons had embraced the notion that the natural world had curative powers for those suffering from shell shock. Guida (Univ. of Sussex) traces the interwar development of this myth, focusing especially on the appreciation of natural sounds—specifically, birdsong—as mediated by radio broadcasting. Many British soldiers serving at the front during WW I had remarked on the presence of birds on the battlefield and how birdsong inspired a sense of inner peace by anchoring them to memories of their past and their hope for a peaceful future. In treating shell-shocked soldiers, British psychologists often prescribed the peace and quiet of the countryside, where birdsong was ubiquitous and convalescing men could interact with the natural world as an essential environmental factor for achieving a cure. Of particular interest is Guida's account of Enham Village Centre (Hampshire), a model community established to help WW I veterans reintegrate into society through engagement in an idealized model of English life, where veterans lived and worked on crafts at a preindustrial pace. Alongside wartime nostalgia for a lost world of peaceful existence in nature, however, Guida recounts the emergence of the BBC's public service broadcasting, signifying "the beginning of a new kind of national listening" (p. 4) and modernity. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers.