Fighting for Life
The Twelve Battles that Made Our NHS, and the Struggle for Its Future
$34.13
- Paperback
384 pages
- Release Date
16 December 2023
Summary
A gripping exploration of the National Health Service, told through the most critical moments in its history.
Since its foundation in 1948, the NHS has come to define our national identity, making history (and the headlines) again and again – from cutting-edge discoveries like the first ‘test tube baby’, to its heroic response to the Coronavirus crisis. But the NHS has also become a battleground for some of the fiercest political contests of our time, perceived either as a national tr…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780241991862 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0241991862 |
| Author: | Isabel Hardman |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Imprint: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 384 |
| Release Date: | 16 December 2023 |
| Weight: | 260g |
| Dimensions: | 192mm x 128mm x 40mm |
What They're Saying
Critics Review
A compelling, deftly constructed and powerfully told narrative … Hardman is a meticulous journalist with a gift for storytelling. Necessary reading – Rafael Behr * Guardian *
Terrific … Every aspect of this history is informed and beautifully written – Alan Johnson * Observer, Book of the Week *
Vivid and fascinating, this is a beautifully cogent, balanced and human biography of a health service haunted by its own mythology … Hardman is impressively even-handed and unsentimental – Melanie Reid * The Times, Book of the Week *
It has by far the best analysis of where the health service came from, and where it’s going … full of excellent stories – Karol Sikora * The Telegraph *
Brilliant – Adam Kay * author of This is Going to Hurt and Undoctored *
Passionate, deeply researched and page-turningly full of good stories, this is so good one is tempted to say it is the book the NHS has always deserved – Andrew Marr
This is a sensational and much-needed book: funny, intelligent and so beautifully written that it doesn’t read like normal non-fiction … thorough, scholarly and above all readable – Chris van Tulleken
A kaleidoscopic history of the NHS – Henry Marsh * New Statesman *
Hardman’s writing is breezily accessible, and her deeply researched book is full of colourful vignettes and an enjoyable spice of gossip … she is particularly good at locating the NHS within the wider social movements that have changed British life over the 75 years of its existence – Sarah Neville * Financial Times *
A brilliantly written and engrossing biography of the NHS … compelling and even-handed – Kate Womersley * The Spectator *
About The Author
Isabel Hardman
Isabel Hardman is the Assistant Editor of the Spectator and also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster. In 2015 she was named the youngest ever Political Journalist of the Year by the Political Studies Association. She appears regularly on TV and radio, including Have I Got News for You, The Andrew Marr Show, The News Quiz, Today programme, Question Time and Sky News. She also writes columns for The Times, The Guardian, The Sun, The Observer, Evening Standard, and the Daily Telegraph.
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