Clicky

Book review

Stranger Within: Poems & Prose, by Blair Smith

Blair Smith was a GP for twenty years before he became a professor and then a consultant in pain medicine. This lovely book reflects all these aspects of his career as well as his own personal cancer experience.
13 December 2025
1 min read

Book review: Breathe: How to Win a Greener World

"Something remarkable has happened that will improve the health of thousands in London, and it doesn’t require a GP review. For the first time since legal limits were introduced in 2010, London’s nitrogen dioxide levels have dropped within legal thresholds ..."
25 October 2025
4 mins read

Book review: The Elements

"As GPs we are the naturalists of the human jungle. This is where we practice, not the controlled and tidy spaces of the secondary care zoo. Our jungle has dark and hidden thickets. How are we to help those caught up in
11 October 2025
2 mins read

Book review: Intervals

"... I found this an inspiring account of what it means to care and to be cared for by a loving relative. Brooker’s brilliant book blends care ethics, philosophy, grief, and practical wisdom, offering GPs and primary care teams a different perspective
30 August 2025
1 min read

Book review: Kaiser Frederick’s Throat

"In this historical novel, Mike Pringle, former Royal College of General Practitioners Chair of Council and President, has written a gripping tale of how professional and political rivalry led to the mismanagement of Queen Victoria’s son-in-law with devastating consequences ..."
6 August 2025
1 min read
·

Eating animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer

This life-changing book is not a polemic in the strident sense. It aims to answer the questions of where the meat that is consumed by humans comes from, how it is produced and what economic and environmental effects this has.
25 July 2025
2 mins read
··

Ethical Erosion

As a profession, our inability—or perhaps reluctance—to step back and reflect on practices that may need to change has no doubt contributed to our ethical erosion. But we are capable of change and reform both individually and collectively...
23 June 2025
5 mins read

A Story is a Deal, by Will Storr

To echo the book’s strapline, I would urge anyone who needs to lead, motivate and persuade to read A Story is a Deal and put into practice many of the learnings that Storr provides in this practical and compelling book.
21 June 2025
2 mins read
1

Book review: The Ghosts of A and E

"it was wonderful to attend the launch of Nicky Carter's first book of poetry, The Ghosts of A and E, in Liverpool a few weeks ago. Hearing them read by the author was a real privilege and took us all to those
1 March 2025
4 mins read

Book review: Elizabeth is Missing

"It raises timely questions regarding the concept on a 'use by' date to a life. It stirs in us the realisation that despite not having 'capacity' to make decisions about medical or financial affairs, a patient may nonetheless be immersed in a
15 February 2025
2 mins read
1 2 3 … 7