War Doctor (Surgery on the Front Line) - 9781419747991

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.