Edith Cavell, By Diana Souhami
Remarkable story of compassion and martyrdom
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Edith Cavell's death by firing squad on 12 October 1915 was one of the most shocking events in a war that was full of them.
Few believed that a nurse, and a woman, would be shot by the Germans, no matter what the provocation, but once she was found guilty of smuggling British soldiers out of occupied Belgium, her fate was sealed.
Diana Souhami traces sympathetically Cavell's austere and disciplined life, from her late-Victorian childhood in the village of Swardeston, Norfolk, through her conversion to nursing and her need to do something useful, to her eventual work with the Red Cross and her refusal to flee when enemy forces arrived. She was an unlikely heroine, but so many owed their lives to her. A remarkable story.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments