War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line - Softcover

Nott, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1509837051 ISBN 13: 9781509837052

Publisher: Picador, 2020

Synopsis

A powerful and intensely moving memoir by an NHS surgeon who volunteered in war zones, operating under the most extreme circumstances.

‘Brave, compassionate and inspiring – it left me in floods of tears’ – Adam Kay, author of This Is Going to Hurt

For more than twenty-five years, David Nott has taken unpaid leave from his job as a general and vascular surgeon with the NHS to volunteer in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones. From Sarajevo under siege in 1993, to clandestine hospitals in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, he has carried out life-saving operations and field surgery in the most challenging conditions, and with none of the resources of a major London teaching hospital.

The conflicts he has worked in form a chronology of twenty-first-century combat: Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur, Congo, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Gaza and Syria. But he has also volunteered in areas blighted by natural disasters, such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal.

Driven both by compassion and passion, the desire to help others and the thrill of extreme personal danger, he is now widely acknowledged to be the most experienced trauma surgeon in the world. But as time went on, David Nott began to realize that flying into a catastrophe – whether war or natural disaster – was not enough. Doctors on the ground needed to learn how to treat the appalling injuries that war inflicts upon its victims. Since 2015, the foundation he set up with his wife, Elly, has disseminated the knowledge he has gained, training other doctors in the art of saving lives threatened by bombs and bullets.

War Doctor is his extraordinary story.

'One of the most brutally vivid evocations of modern warfare that you will read . . . superb, unforgettable, simply written and painfully clear' – Sunday Times

About this title

About the Author

David Nott is a Welsh consultant surgeon, specializing in general and vascular surgery. He works mainly in London hospitals, but for more than twenty-five years he has also volunteered to work in disaster and war zones. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 Birthday Honours and in 2016 he received the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award and the Pride of Britain Award. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters. War Doctor is his first book.

From the Back Cover

For more than twenty-five years, David Nott has taken unpaid leave from his job as a general and vascular surgeon with the NHS to volunteer in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones. From Sarajevo under siege in 1993, to clandestine hospitals in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, he has carried out life-saving operations in the most challenging conditions.
Driven both by the desire to help others and the thrill of extreme personal danger, he is widely acknowledged to be the most experienced trauma surgeon in the world, experience he now passes on to other doctors, so that they too can save lives threatened by bombs and bullets.
War Doctor is his extraordinary story.
‘Superb, unforgettable, simply written and painfully clear’ Sunday Times
‘His stories of courage and compassion in the face of seemingly certain death are breathtaking . . . If a film about his life isn’t already in development, someone’s missing a trick.’ Fiona Sturges, Guardian
‘A devastating account of two decades volunteering his services to some of the world’s most dangerous places.’ Helen Brown, Daily Mail

Edition details

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1509837051
• ISBN 13: 9781509837052
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368