For more than twenty-five years now, Professor David Nott - a general and vascular surgeon working in London hospitals - has periodically taken unpaid leave and travelled as a volunteer to the most dangerous war zones. He has carried out life-saving operations in extremely demanding and difficult conditions - including in 1993 in besieged Sarajevo and in secret hospitals in rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo. The armed conflicts whose victims David Nott has rescued on the ground are the sad story of 21st century wars: Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur, Congo, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Gaza and Syria. But the 'Indiana Jones of surgery', as Nott is sometimes called, has also saved more than one life in countries affected by natural disasters - including Haiti and Nepal after earthquakes. Professional passion, deep empathy, a desire to help those most in need and the thrill of working in the face of mortal danger all drive him to action. Nott, who is now regarded as the world's most experienced trauma surgeon, realised at one stage of his volunteering that his direct assistance at the sites of war conflicts or natural disasters was a little too little - that the doctors there needed to learn how to effectively deal with the most severe trauma cases of the victims of these dramatic events. Since 2015, he and his wife Elly have been running a foundation to spread his knowledge and expertise to help effectively save lives where missiles and bombs threaten. This book is the moving and, for many reasons, unique story of a true hero - war doctor David Nott.
