Man's activities have been tainted by disaster ever since the serpent first approached Eve in the garden. And the world of medicine is no exception. In this outrageous and strangely informative book, Richard Gordon explores some of history's more bizarre medical disasters. He creates a catalogue of mishaps including anthrax bombs on Gruinard Island, destroying mosquitoes in Panama, and Mary the cook who, in 1904, inadvertently spread Typhoid across New York State. As the Bible so rightly says, 'He that sinneth before his maker, let him fall into the hands of the physician.'
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About the Author
Richard Gordon is best-known for his hilarious 'Doctor' books and the long-running television series they inspired. Born in 1921, he qualified as a doctor and went on to work as an anaesthetist at the famous St Bartholomew's Hospital, before a spell as a ship's surgeon and then as assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. In 1952, before leaving medical practice in 1952 to take up writing full time and embarking upon the 'Doctor' series. Many of these are based on these experiences in the medical profession and are all told with the rye wit and candid humour that have become his hallmark. They have proved enduringly successful and have been adapted into both film and TV. His 'Great Medical Mysteries' and 'Great Medical Discoveries' concern the stranger aspects of the medical profession, whilst 'The Private Life' series takes a deeper look at individual figures within their specific medical and historical setting. Clearly an incredibly versatile writer, he will, however, always be best known for his comic tone coupled with remarkable powers of observation inherent in the hilarious 'Doctor' series. 'Mr Gordon is in his way the P G Wodehouse of the general hospitals' - The Daily Telegraph. 'I wish some more solemn novelists had half Mr Gordon's professional skills' - Julian Symonds, Sunday Times
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!,
This review is from: Great Medical Disasters (Paperback)
I'm a physician and came across this book when I was still in training and I still have it 15 years later. The book is written for a general audience and I think the author does an outstanding job explaining complicated procedures to the layperson. Unlike other reviewers who commented on a lack of "thread" in this text, I think the work is unified and nicely organized in sections. The common thread is medical disasters and Gordon does a fine job switching from surgery cases to epidemiologic detective work. He was the first physician in my career who helped me see Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) as a human-being rather than a fomite. Kudos to Dr. Gordon!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read and smile,
By Dalton C. Rocha (Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Great Medical Disasters (Paperback)
I read this book here in Brazil.I'm an agronomist, single, 35 years old.I like to read books.
This book isn't for doctors or nurses.It's for general public and really is a comic book.The best chapter of this this book is chapter 2.This chapter talks about, the fatal illness of Frederick, the noble.The useless medicine then available, and the crew of doctors, trying to help the hopelesse Frederick is hilarious. Read this book and smile.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Different Kind of Medical History,
This review is from: Great Medical Disasters (Paperback)
Richard Gordon, author of "Doctor in the House" and other books in the "Doctor" series, turns to medical history here. But unlike most other books that usually focus on the triumphs of medicine, this one is a catalog of disasters. It is a potpourri of quirky anecdotes. You can read about such items as the London surgeon Robert Liston who prided himself on being quick and amputated a leg under 2 1/2 minutes (and the fingers of his assistant as well), about Sir William Lane who was so obsessed with constipation that he began to remove his patients' large intestines the way others removed appendixes, and how Britain developed an anthrax bomb to combat Hitler's Germany. But while many anecdotes themselves make for hilarious or shocking reading, after a while they begin to grate a bit. Although grouped into sections, there does not seem a strong unifying thread. Perhaps the book might have more appeal if read in installments rather than from cover to cover.
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