author
George Henry Makins
b. 1853
A leading British surgeon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he became especially known for his work in military medicine and for writing vividly about gunshot injuries in war. His career linked hospital practice, royal service, and some of the hardest medical lessons of modern conflict.
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About the author
Born on November 3, 1853, in St Albans, George Henry Makins was educated at The King's School, Gloucester, then at St Thomas' Hospital, with further study in Halle and Vienna. He went on to build a distinguished career as an English surgeon and later became Sir George Henry Makins.
Makins is especially remembered for his surgical work during wartime. He served as Consulting Surgeon to the South African Field Force during the Boer War and again in the First World War, experiences that shaped his influential writing on gunshot wounds and military surgery. His books and lectures helped document how surgeons were adapting to the realities of modern battlefield injuries.
He was also closely connected with the Royal College of Surgeons, serving as its president from 1917 to 1919, and received major honors including the CB and GCMG. He died on November 2, 1933, one day before his 80th birthday.