Please Note That The Following Individual Books As Per Original ISBN and Cover Image In this Listing shall be Dispatched
Do No Harm By Henry Marsh, Critical By Matt Morgan, Doctor You By Jeremy Howick, The Prison Doctor By Amanda Brown 4 Books Collection
Do No What is it like to be a brain surgeon? How does it feel to hold someone’s life in your hands, to cut into the stuff that creates thought, feeling and reason? How do you live with the consequences of performing a potentially lifesaving operation when it all goes wrong? With astonishing compassion and candor, leading neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reveals the fierce joy of operating.
Doctor Award-winning Oxford University researcher Dr. Jeremy Howick draws on the latest peer-reviewed medical studies to arm readers with scientific evidence that will empower them to make sensible choices about what drugs to take, what drugs to give their children, and when (and when not) to simply let the body do its thing.
The Prison As seen on BBC BreakfastHorrifying, heartbreaking and eye-opening, these are the stories, the patients and the cases that have characterised a career spent being a doctor behind bars.Violence. Drugs. Suicide. Welcome to the world of a Prison Doctor.Dr Amanda Brown has treated inmates in the UKs most infamous prisons first in young offenders institutions, then at the notorious Wormwood Scrubs.
Henry Marsh read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University before studying medicine at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1984 and was appointed Consultant Neurosurgeon at Atkinson Morley's/St George's Hospital in London in 1987, where he still works full time.
He has been the subject of two major documentary films, YOUR LIFE IN THEIR HANDS, which won the ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY GOLD MEDAL, and THE ENGLISH SURGEON, featuring his work in the Ukraine, which won an EMMY award. He was made a CBE in 2010. He is married to the anthropologist and writer Kate Fox.
His latest book is And Finally, coming after Admissions and Do No Harm.
It’s fascinating to read about a surgeons POV, especially when you work along side of a neurosurgeon. You get to see their work and how well they perform surgery, but you don’t see the other side of them, like how they feel and think and how they interact with patients outside the operating room. Good read!
Перечитувала цю книгу англійською, хоча до цього вже читала її українською. Навіть знаючи історії, це всеодно було дуже захопливо. Мене досі вражає як сильно змінюється ставлення до життя у людей, які часто бачать смерть у своєму житті.
Do No Harm by Henry Marsh is and honest look inside the world of brain surgery. Marsh tells stories about operating on people’s brains, saving lives, and facing the heartbreak when things go wrong. He mixes medical detail with personal reflection, showing not just what surgeons do, but the emotional and moral weight of every decision.
The book is organized in a unique way: each chapter is named after a brain tumor or condition, like Pineocytoma, Glioblastoma, or Hubris. Each title connects to the theme of the chapter — youth and ambition, mistakes, hubris, and learning limits.
One chapter is about a lecture he gave called “My Worst Mistakes,” where he openly admits errors to other doctors. It’s brave and unprecedented, showing his honesty in a field where mistakes are often hidden.
Marsh also reflects on how surgeons change with age. He writes, “Most neurosurgeons become increasingly more conservative as they get older – meaning that they advise surgery in fewer patients than when they were younger.” Experience makes them more careful. Things they might have attempted when young, they now avoid, weighing risks more heavily. It shows the shift from boldness to caution and humility in surgery. But also they sometimes wonder--am I not operating because I'm afraid of a bad complication?
He also highlights the constant uncertainty in medicine. Marsh writes, “Few people outside medicine realize that what tortures doctors most is uncertainty, rather than the fact they often deal with people who are suffering or who are about to die.” This line captures the stress surgeons feel every day, making life-and-death decisions with incomplete information. The book gives a rare and honest view of the joys, pressures, and difficult choices in brain surgery.
A great read for anyone who is in the field of health care and has to make difficult decisions.
It is not surprising that surgeons rarely share their failures, as it is a profession where the consequences of mistakes are often severe if not life changing. This is especially true for neurosurgery, where an accidental prod can cause someone to lose sensation in their face. Marsh acknowledges that this is the case and proceeds to share truly honest recounts of some of his most memorable cases, including the ones that went awry.
I like how the book was organized and the balance between descriptions of different surgical cases and the context surrounding them. This book remains among many of the other great physican-author books I've read in the last year or two in terms of its ability to describe the conflicting interests, difficult decisions, and deeply human moments that go into each medical case.
The writing was strong and engaging and I felt like I could really get a sense of who Marsh was as a physician and as a person. This was difficult at times, with him coming across as judgmental & self-important at points. That being said he seemed quite self-aware of this at points and would sort of recover my opinion of him through some thoughtful reflections. It might just be a neurosurgery thing though as the first one I met IRL a week ago was a bit dick-ish. This was a minor complaint though and on the whole I deeply admire Dr. Henry Marsh and his views on his profession and human life generally.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and Marsh succeeded in doing what it set out to do: humanizing the profession of surgery.
Lots of good quotes but don't feel like adding any here atm. Give it a read!
I honestly enjoyed this book a lot. Reading the different cases and seeing the perspective of a neurosurgeon, definitely influenced my interests in medicine more. I think the book did a great job setting up each case and going through the motions of what typically happens. Each chapter was a different story/case/ disease. This definitely increased my overall interest in neurology. Henry Marsh did a great job taking the reader through his life’s work and depicted the honest truth about being a neurosurgeon, a doctor, a patient, and everything that comes with that. He shared stories on cases that had bad outcomes but also cases with good outcomes. Overall, I learned a lot and would recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιωματικό εγχείρημα από ένα καταξιωμένο Βρεττανό Νευροχειρουργό που καταγράφει με απλό και κατανοητό τρόπο, και μέσα από ιστορίες συγκεκριμένων ασθενών και διαγνώσεων, τον αγώνα του με την άσκηση της ιατρικής, τα ηθικά διλήμματα που προκύπτουν, τις αδικίες και τα προβλήματα των συστημάτων υγείας. Η εμπειρία ετών από την άσκηση μιας πολύ απαιτητικής ειδικότητας που ακροβατεί στα όρια ζωής και θανάτου, ικανότητας ή αναπηρίας, κάνει την συλλογιστική του μεστή και πολύτιμη.
"...λίγοι άνθρωποι που δεν ασχολούνται με την ιατρική αντιλαμβάνονται ότι αυτό που βασανίζει περισσότερο τος γιατρούς είναι η αβεβαιότητα, και όχι το γεγονός ότι έρχονται συχνά αντιμέτωποι με ασθενείς που υποφέρουν ή πρόκειται να πεθάνουν."
Not a novel you read before bed! Nonetheless Henry brings readers a front-row seat to his operating theaters. Many stories are stressful, but it's more than surgery - you see all of the moments in between: how the lack of beds turn patients away, the earlier, more pragmatic days of UK-based surgery, his visits to Ukraine etc. More often than not, Henry travels back to the hospital at 10pm to check-in on patents and that's when the more interesting parts of the stories reveal themselves.
The pages were compelling, and the reason why it's 5 not 4 stars is because these harrowing stories gives the reader pause to consider: "is this really what I should be doing with my life rn?" A question often postponed by busier lives.
From someone who works in healthcare with other surgeons (not neurosurgeons), I feel as though this makes sweeping and inaccurate generalizations with an authoritarian tone. It helped me to remember the time in which this physician practiced as healthcare has evolved. Also, I personally was not a fan of the dehumanizing descriptions used for patients throughout the book.
I was disappointed by this book. it was interesting enough (I listened to the audiobook) but it was very sporadic and most of the stories shared ended abruptly and often unfinished. It seemed to lack an overall purpose beyond a retiring doctor reminiscing. But overall it was enjoyable to listen to, and gave insight to some of how the European healthcare system has changed over the past century.
Only thing I liked about this book was reading about the patients story. Aside from that, Dr. Marsh mind is insane. Like the way he describes certain patients especially “fat” ones?? I can’t imagine being a student of his or even a colleague. He sounds like a nightmare of a person 😩
An amazing read if you are interested in medicine and neurosurgery! Very well written book compiling multiple interesting patient stories and experiences.
Informative and fun! As a device specialist, I work with Neurosurgeons in the operating room for case support when they are utilizing my company’s navigation equipment. Hence, I wanted to learn more about how Neurosurgeons think and the field in general. The author provided a detailed account of his patients' etiologies and their following brain surgeries. Surgeries such as an aneurysms, brain tumors, spine surgery, and more were succinctly described. The book served to increase my clinical acumen as it pertains to general neurosurgery. I recommend this book to anyone who works or is interested in working with Neurosurgeons in the confines of the operating room.