War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line

by David Nott, Henry Marsh (Introduction)

Overview

The #1 internationally bestselling, gripping true story of a frontline trauma surgeon operating in the world's most dangerous war zones

For more than 25 years, surgeon David Nott has volunteered in some of the world’s most dangerous conflict 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 metropolitan hospital. Nott is now widely acknowledged to be the most experienced trauma surgeon in the world. War Doctor is his extraordinary story, encompassing his surgeries in nearly every major conflict zone since the end of the Cold War, as well as his struggles to return to a “normal” life and routine after each trip. At times, Nott’s riveting memoir reads like a travelogue of the world’s cruelty—he has volunteered in Afghanistan, Congo, Darfur, Gaza, Iraq, Libya, Sierra Leone, and Yemen—but it’s also an uplifting and deeply compassionate story about the brave medical professionals trying to combat evil and heal their patients despite the terrible circumstances.
Culminating in his recent trips to war-torn Syria—and the untold story of his efforts to help evacuate some 50,000 people from Aleppo—War Doctor is a heart-stopping and moving blend of medical memoir, personal journey, and nonfiction thriller that provides unforgettable, at times raw, insight into the human toll of war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419747991
Publisher:	Abrams Press
Publication date:	03/09/2021
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	307,338
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David Nott is a consultant surgeon, specializing in general and vascular surgery. He has also volunteered to work in disaster and war zones for over two decades. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction Henry Marsh xiii

1 The Bomb Factory 1

2 Two Epiphanies 17

3 Welcome to Sarajevo 37

4 Damage Control 55

5 Flying In 73

6 Under African Skies 89

7 Trauma School 115

8 Return to Syria 133

9 Sniper City 155

10 Lifeline 187

11 The Razor's Edge 211

12 Physician, Heal Thyself 235

13 Escape from Aleppo 251

Afterword Eleanor Nott 275

Acknowledgments 281

Editorial Reviews

". . . remarkable memoir. . . Nott relates his extensive knowledge of trauma surgery and medicine to the events he writes about in a fluid prose style that is readily understandable to readers outside the health-care profession. The result is a remarkably powerful personal and expert account of the drastic toll war exacts on human beings and a stirring bringing-to-light of the many ways people behind the scenes help mitigate the damage."

Booklist

Surgeons in training and those looking for a fly-on-the-wall perspective of nontraditional treatment centers in violence-stricken areas will find themselves fully engaged in Nott’s firsthand accounts.”—Library Journal

"A series of gripping and fascinating medical stories."—Kirkus

". . . remarkable memoir. . . Nott relates his extensive knowledge of trauma surgery and medicine to the events he writes about in a fluid prose style that is readily understandable to readers outside the health-care profession. The result is a remarkably powerful personal and expert account of the drastic toll war exacts on human beings and a stirring bringing-to-light of the many ways people behind the scenes help mitigate the damage."—Booklist

From the Publisher

02/07/2020

Nott, a consultant surgeon who specializes in general and vascular surgery, chronicles over two decades of conducting emergency surgeries in war-torn areas without traditional surgical tools and resources, aiming to shed light on the tragic violence plaguing millions of people in places like Syria, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. Nott crafts an unforgettable and moving narrative about perseverance and resilience in dangerous and challenging conditions, masterfully blending his personal experience with a compelling call to end violence. The author lends a personal, compassionate, and suspenseful voice to warzone reporting, similar to Jeremy Bowen's War Stories, and offers intimate insights on treating patients, including those who have committed heinous crimes. Even readers familiar with the perilous conditions facing clinicians providing medical treatment on the front lines will be in awe of Nott's heroic, life-saving work. VERDICT Surgeons in training and those looking for a fly-on-the-wall perspective of nontraditional treatment centers in violence-stricken areas will find themselves fully engaged in Nott's firsthand accounts.—Rich McIntyre Jr., UConn Health Sciences Lib.

Library Journal

2019-12-22
A physician's memoir of service in war zones around the world.

Even during training, British surgeon Nott thrilled to hear stories of colleagues who delivered care in poor, often war-torn nations. After receiving a post at Charing Cross Hospital in London in 1992, he proceeded to do the same. Many international charities, such as the Red Cross, require a substantial commitment, so they often attract retirees or the wealthy. Like many physicians in their prime, Nott chose to work with Doctors Without Borders, founded in France, which accepts volunteers for as little as a few weeks. Almost immediately, the author was sent to Sarajevo, under siege during the vicious civil war in the former Yugoslavia. There followed tours in Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Haiti, Palestine, and, more recently, Syria, where he encountered countless heartbreaking examples of the enormous suffering humans inflict on each other in times of political violence and war. Quickly learning that dealing with the catastrophic injuries from explosives and high-velocity bullets required skills not taught during surgical training, he found himself making lifesaving decisions under primitive conditions, often without technical aids. Most readers will know what to expect, and Nott does not disappoint, delivering riveting, generally gruesome stories of victims who came under his care and the professionals, mostly admirable, who worked with him. He is not shy about discussing his work, so readers will learn much about how battle surgeons go about their job. Nott soon discovered that this was knowledge other volunteers and nearly all local doctors were also lacking, so he began to teach a course entitled "Surgical Techniques in Austere Environments," which caught on. The author's efforts to publicize these horrors made him well known—and this book was a No. 1 bestseller in Britain—but unfortunately persuaded no Western governments to take action to end them, which they (unlike the humanitarian organizations) had the power to accomplish.

A series of gripping and fascinating medical stories.

Kirkus Reviews