Do No Harm

What is it like to hold someone's life in your hands? To cut through the very matter that makes us who we are? Marsh lays bare the exultations and the devastating disappointments that come with his profession. The book offers an intricate look at the day-to-day realities of a neurosurgeon, punctuated by the triumphs and the inevitable tragedies that define a medical career at this high level.

With unflinching candour, Marsh recounts the profoundly human experiences of joy and sorrow, success and failure. He shares stories of his patients with deep empathy, revealing the human side of medicine that often remains hidden behind professional detachment. Readers are drawn into the operating room, feeling the tension and the stakes involved as if they were the surgeon themselves.

Marsh's writing is beautifully clear and compelling, filled with rich descriptions and a profound awareness of the fragility of life. His narrative brings to light the organised chaos of a busy hospital and the mental and emotional fortitude required to make life-altering decisions under immense pressure. Yet, despite the challenges, it is hope and the drive to help others that anchor his journey.

This book has not only garnered significant acclaim for its literary merit but has also captivated readers and critics alike. It has won the PEN Ackerley Prize and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature. It has been shortlisted for several prestigious awards including the Costa Biography Award, the Duff Cooper Prize, the Wellcome Book Prize, the Guardian First Book Award, and the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize. Moreover, it has been longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.

‘Enthralling’ - GUARDIAN

‘Incredibly absorbing ... astonishingly candid’ - Bill Bryson

For anyone fascinated by the mind or intrigued by the profession of neurosurgery, Do No Harm offers an unforgettable journey into the mind of a surgeon and the convoluted pathways of the brain. It is a book that stays with you, making you ponder the intricacies of life and the human spirit.