Do No Harm cover art

Do No Harm

Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery

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Do No Harm

By: Henry Marsh
Narrated by: Jim Barclay
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About this listen

What is it really like to be a brain surgeon, to hold someone's life in your hands, to drill down into the stuff that creates thought, feeling and reason?

In this brutally honest account, one of the country's top neurosurgeons reveals what it is to play god in life-and-death situations. Henry Marsh gives us a rare insight into the intense drama of the operating theatre and the exquisite complexity of the human brain.

©2014 Henry Marsh (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd Medical Physics Professionals & Academics Science Human Brain Surgery

Editorial reviews

The incredible life of a brain surgeon in the NHS and the heart-breaking stories of his patients are described in the honest and revealing unabridged audiobook Do No Harm, written by brain surgeon Henry Marsh and narrated by Jim Barclay. Take a fascinating look into the neurosurgical operating room and gain a deep sense of the weight of responsibility the performing surgeon must bear forever. Told with the deepest compassion and loyalty to the lives of others, Marsh writes with eloquence about the profound significance of an organ that makes us who we are as individuals. Available now from Audible.
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I must admit to having an interest in this area, having worked in the medical device industry for many years and seeing a lot of neurosurgery in the operating theatre. However, this book would appeal to anyone with an interest in medicine.

Mr Mash has written a really good book, which is essentially divided in to chapters telling the story of a particular patient with a specific condition. Throughout chapters and the book, he also provides his personal story and comments.

The book gives a very interesting insight into the life of a senior surgeon, showing their worries, stress, joy and humanity.

Jim Barclay does an excellent job narrating and is totally convincing as a neurosurgeon!

Surpisingly easy to listen to and fascinating!

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Highly recommend. Beautifully and poignantly told, pleasantly narrated, the chapters of this book flow with intelligence, insight, wisdom and humour, a few tears...and an absolutely brilliant rant about the NHS and medical system bureaucracy. I cannot say enough about this book, and I think everyone should read this. Especially great for people in the medical or healthcare profession, but essentially a must-read for all of us, as all of us are at risk of having a family member experience a tumour or requirement for neurosurgery, and this book really tells it like it is. This is one of my favourite books of all medical-themed, life-purpose-themed publications. I never wanted it to end and am now moving on to Henry Marsh's subsequent books. He rapidly became my favourite writer of all time.

Absolute gold! Medical life story telling.

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This is excellent. Well paced, invariably interesting. The pointless battles with mindless bureaucracy are hilarious. The human stories are touching.

An exceptionally written and very accessible book

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A new favourite of mine! Enjoyed it so much I could hardly stop listening. Great narration as well

Great book!

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An interesting book with lots of simply put facts despite the complexity of the subject. The author made the subject matter easy to understand along with his sense of humour, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hope he has written more.

What an insight

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Love Henry Marsh’s absolute honesty. He is a very good storyteller who had me listening intently to his operating tales. I recommend this book very highly.

Brilliant book !

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In the beginning it started out as interesting to see perspective. As the novel progressed the stereotypical neurosurgeon traits came out as pompous and egotistical. Perhaps it is an interesting read for those unfamiliar with neurological conditions. As a healthcare worker just highlighted archaic parts of health system that require reform

A true neurosurgeon

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The book was let down by the narrator. His voice had a very severe tone

interesting

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I went into this book like a expect a lot of readers do knowing not much about Neurosurgery. Dr Marsh delivers a crash course for the layman in a way that engages the reader well. He is brutally honest about the high & lows of his career and I found his self-reflections very engaging. This book managed to bring a tear to my eye and had me laughing at loud, mind you not at the same time.

I was left with a much better understanding of the mysteries of the human brain and those who we rely to care for it. The author gets the mix spot on between the technical and personal sides of his profession.

I do think though the book could have been better structured with it jumping around his long career a bit too much for my liking. I also found that some of the facts were repeated over and over again. Overall an engaging and good read that just could have done with some tweaking.

Brain Surgery Is Not Like You Think

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