The Summer of Sir Lancelot (22 page)

‘Uproarious, extremely iconoclastic‘ —
Evening News

‘A delightful book‘ —
Sunday Times

DOCTOR AT SEA

Richard Gordon‘s life was moving rapidly towards middle-aged lethargy — or so he felt. Employed as an assistant in general practice — the medical equivalent of a poor curate - and having been ‘persuaded‘ that marriage is as much an obligation for a young doctor as celibacy for a priest, Richard sees the rest of his life stretching before him. Losing his nerve, and desperately in need of an antidote, he instead signs on with the Fathom Steamboat Company. What follows is a hilarious tale of nautical diseases and assorted misadventures at sea. Yet he also becomes embroiled in a mystery — what is in the Captain‘s stomach remedy? And more to the point, what on earth happened to the previous doctor?

‘Sheer unadulterated fun‘ —
Star

DOCTOR AT LARGE

Dr Richard Gordon‘s first job after qualifying takes him to St Swithin‘s where he is enrolled as junior Casualty House Surgeon. However, some rather unfortunate incidents with Mr Justice Hopwood, as well as one of his patients inexplicably coughing up nuts and bolts, mean that promotion passes him by — and goes instead to Bingham, his odious rival. After a series of disastrous interviews, Gordon cuts his losses and visits a medical employment agency. To his disappointment, all the best jobs have already been snapped up, but he could always turn to general practice...

DOCTOR GORDON‘S CASEBOOK

‘Well, I see no reason why anyone should expect a doctor to be on call seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Considering the sort of risky life your average GP leads, it‘s not only inhuman but simple-minded to think that a doctor could stay sober that long.

As Dr Richard Gordon joins the ranks of such world-famous diarists as Samuel Pepys and Fanny Burney, his most intimate thoughts and confessions reveal the life of a GP to be not quite as we might expect... Hilarious, riotous and just a bit too truthful, this is Richard Gordon at his best.

GREAT MEDICAL DISASTERS

Man‘s activities have been tainted by disaster ever since the serpent first approached Eve in the garden. And the world of medicine is no exception. In this outrageous and strangely informative book, Richard Gordon explores some of history‘s more bizarre medical disasters. He creates a catalogue of mishaps including anthrax bombs on Gruinard Island, destroying mosquitoes in Panama, and Mary the cook who, in 1904, inadvertently spread Typhoid across New York State. As the Bible so rightly says, ‘He that sinneth before his maker, let him fall into the hands of the physician.‘

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF JACK THE RIPPER

In this remarkably shrewd and witty novel, Victorian London is brought to life with a compelling authority. Richard Gordon wonderfully conveys the boisterous, often lusty panorama of life for the very poor — hard, menial work; violence; prostitution; disease.
The Private Life of Jack The Ripper
is a masterly evocation of the practice of medicine in 1888 — the year of Jack the Ripper. It is also a dark and disturbing medical mystery. Why were his victims so silent? And why was there so little blood?

‘... horribly entertaining... excitement and suspense buttressed with authentic period atmosphere‘ —
The Daily Telegraph

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