Australian historian knew as a child what he wanted to be
Peter Stanley is one of those people whose course in life was set early. He knew at seven that he wanted to be a historian and by university that he would focus on military history.
"The idea of travelling mentally to different times and places really interested me," says Stanley, now 52, who is the director of the centre for historical research at the National Museum of Australia.
But he emphasises that he is not the type of military historian who enjoys "arid technical analysis" of battle strategy. Rather, he is fascinated by military social history - the human element of how people respond under great duress.
"I realised I was drawn to the extremity of human experience you get in war," he says. "It's not trivial, it's literally about life and death."
This fascination for the human spirit under crushing conditions is evident in his other historical focus, surgery without anaesthesia. This interest, too, developed early after Stanley, aged 11, read a book on the amputation of Admiral Nelson's arm in 1797.
He had nightmares about Nelson's operation for almost 30 years, until he exorcised them by writing a book on British medical history from 1800 to 1850.
He describes the period as "the last five decades of painful surgery", where ambitious operations were performed with no pain relief whatsoever. Even rum was only used to revive the patients if they fainted during the procedure.
"There was a real sense of the drama and dignity of the human being," says Stanley, who describes how some patients talked to the surgeon, some screamed and some endured the pain in stoic silence.
That book, For Fear Of Pain, is one of 20 that Stanley has had published over the years, including two this year on exploring Australia's overseas battlefields and on whether Japan intended to invade Australia in 1942.
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"The idea of travelling mentally to different times and places really interested me," says Stanley, now 52, who is the director of the centre for historical research at the National Museum of Australia.
But he emphasises that he is not the type of military historian who enjoys "arid technical analysis" of battle strategy. Rather, he is fascinated by military social history - the human element of how people respond under great duress.
"I realised I was drawn to the extremity of human experience you get in war," he says. "It's not trivial, it's literally about life and death."
This fascination for the human spirit under crushing conditions is evident in his other historical focus, surgery without anaesthesia. This interest, too, developed early after Stanley, aged 11, read a book on the amputation of Admiral Nelson's arm in 1797.
He had nightmares about Nelson's operation for almost 30 years, until he exorcised them by writing a book on British medical history from 1800 to 1850.
He describes the period as "the last five decades of painful surgery", where ambitious operations were performed with no pain relief whatsoever. Even rum was only used to revive the patients if they fainted during the procedure.
"There was a real sense of the drama and dignity of the human being," says Stanley, who describes how some patients talked to the surgeon, some screamed and some endured the pain in stoic silence.
That book, For Fear Of Pain, is one of 20 that Stanley has had published over the years, including two this year on exploring Australia's overseas battlefields and on whether Japan intended to invade Australia in 1942.