Helena Gleichen, Queen Victoria's great-niece and cousin toGeorge V, gives the lie to the belief that Victorian women weremeek, submissive and led restricted lives.A passionate horsewoman and successful artist, theautobiographical anecdotes in the earlier part of the book arelively and amusing.The longer second section gives a detailed account of howshe and Nina Hollings, her long-term companion and sister ofthe composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth, raised and mannedone of the first mobile X-Ray units to be used by the Britishin World War I - Marie Curie was organizing the Frenchradiography service - for which they both received numerousdecorations.Helena Gleichen paints a vivid picture of the war in Italy,which tends to be little remembered compared to the WesternFront, and above all gives an extremely interesting accountof how the X-ray Unit was set up and operated, and theconsiderable impact it had on the treatment and survival rateof the wounded.