Oliver Sacks meets Bear Grylls in this unique voyage around the human body, from the prize-winning author of 'Empire Antarctica'.
So enthralling and so well written that it should win its own clutch of prizes... immensely engaging and often unexpected.
We have a lifetime's association with our bodies, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory. In 'Adventures in Human Being', Gavin Francis leads the reader on a journey through health and illness: offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the secret workings of the heart and the womb, from the pulse of life at the wrist to the unique engineering of the foot.
Drawing on his own experiences as a doctor and GP, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over the millennia. If the body is a foreign country, then to practise medicine is to explore new territory. Francis leads the reader on an adventure through what it means to be human.
Both a user's guide to the body and a celebration of its elegance, this book will transform the way you think about being alive, whether in sickness or in health.
Published in association with Wellcome Collection.
- Date published
- Format
- Paperback
- Extent
- 251pp
- ISBN
- 9781781253410
About the author
Gavin Francis
Gavin Francis is a GP and the author of eleven books of non-fiction including ‘Adventures in Human Being’ (2015), ‘Shapeshifters’ (2018), ‘Intensive Care’ (2021), ‘Recovery: the Lost Art of Convalescence’ (2022) and ‘Free For All’ (2023) - a passionate defence of the principles of the NHS. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the Royal College of General Practitioners. His books have been translated into twenty languages. His latest book, ‘The Unfragile Mind’, examines mental health, arguing for greater curiosity, humility, kindness, and hope in approaches to psychiatric diagnosis.