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Pilote du bout du monde: souvenirs d'un pilote de brousse dans le Grand Nord
Par Dominique Prinet. 2022
Au cours des années 1960 et 1970, le Grand Nord canadien était en pleine effervescence. Dominique Prinet, alors jeune pilote…
de brousse, y a effectué des vols incroyables, lui qui a transporté, par tous les temps, des pêcheurs, des chasseurs et des trappeurs, des chercheurs d'or ou de pétrole, ainsi que des blessés et des malades nécessitant une évacuation d'urgence. C'était bien avant le GPS, quand les cartes se révélaient imprécises, les modes de communication, rudimentaires, et que les voyages du genre duraient des semainesUn dernier tour d'ambulance: récits d'un paramédic
Par Martin Viau. 2023
Peu de gens savent ce qui se passe réellement à l'arrière d'une ambulance. Martin Viau, paramédic, vous dirait que c'est…
très bien ainsi. Lui et ses collègues interviennent sur des corps amochés, parfois méconnaissables, retrouvés dans des circonstances souvent effroyables. Ils affrontent tous les jours la souffrance et parfois, presque régulièrement, la mortEvery Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
Par Jason Roberts. 2024
From the bestselling author of A Sense of the World comes this dramatic, globe-spanning and meticulously-researched story of two scientific…
rivals and their race to survey all life on Earth.In the 18th century, two men dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Their approaches could not have been more different. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster's flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France's royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Both began believing their work to be difficult, but not impossible—how could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species? Stunned by life's diversity, both fell far short of their goal. But in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, on humanity's role in shaping the fate of our planet and on humanity itself. The rivalry between these two unique, driven individuals created reverberations that still echo today. Linnaeus, with the help of acolyte explorers he called "apostles" (only half of whom returned alive), gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate and homo sapiens—but he also denied species change and promulgated racist pseudo-science. Buffon coined the term reproduction, formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, and argued passionately against prejudice. It was a clash that, during their lifetimes, Buffon seemed to be winning. But their posthumous fates would take a very different turn.With elegant, propulsive prose grounded in more than a decade of research, featuring appearances by Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Darwin, bestselling author Jason Roberts tells an unforgettable true-life tale of intertwined lives and enduring legacies, tracing an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.A surprising, groundbreaking, and fiercely entertaining medical history that is both a collective narrative of women's bodies and a call…
to action for a new conversation around women's health. For as long as medicine has been a practice, women's bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women's healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless—a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species, yet uninformed by women's own voices, thoughts, fears, pain and experiences. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape the (mis)treatment and care of women. While the modern age has seen significant advancements in the medical field, the notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on—as do the pervasive societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women's health and relationships with their own bodies. Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen draws back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies—how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today's medical thought, and the many oversights that still remain unaddressed. With a physician's knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen follows the road map of the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, as well as her own experience treating thousands of women. Empowering women to better understand ourselves and advocate for care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives— for us and generations to come—All in Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women's medical history is an essential contribution to a holistic understanding and much-needed reclaiming of women's history and bodiesThe bodies keep coming: Dispatches from a black trauma surgeon on racism, violence, and how we heal
Par Brian H Williams. 2023
Trauma surgeon Dr. Brian H. Williams has seen it all—gunshot wounds, stabbings, traumatic brain injuries—and ushers us into the trauma…
bay, where the wounds of a national emergency amass. As a Harvard-trained physician, he learned to keep his head down and his scalpel ready. As a Black man, he learned to swallow rage when patients told him to take out the trash. Just days after the tragic police shootings of two Black men, he tried to save the lives of officers shot in the deadliest incident for US law enforcement since 9/11. Thrust into the spotlight in a nation that loves feel-good stories more than hard truths, he came to rethink everything he thought he knew about medicine, injustice, and what true healing looks like. Now, in raw, intimate detail, he narrates not only the events of that night, but the grief and anger of a Black doctor on the front lines of trauma care. Working in the physician-writer tradition of Gawande and Tweedy, he diagnoses the roots of the violence that plagues us. He draws a through line between white supremacy, gun violence, and the bodies he tries to revive, training his surgeon's gaze on the structural ills manifesting themselves in his patients' bodies. What if racism is a feature of our healthcare system, not a bug? What if profiting from racial inequality is exactly what it's designed to do? Black and brown bodies will continue to be wracked by all types of violence, Williams argues, until we transform policy and law with compassion and careThe Open Heart Club: A Story about Birth and Death and Cardiac Surgery
Par Gabriel Brownstein. 2019
This absorbing and poignant book is not merely the story of one writer's flawed heart. It is a history of…
cardiac medicine, a candid personal journey, and a profound reflection on mortality.Born in 1966 with a congenital heart defect known as the tetralogy of Fallot, Gabriel Brownstein entered the world just as doctors were learning to operate on conditions like his. He received a life-saving surgery at five years old, and since then has ridden wave after wave of medical innovation, a series of interventions that have kept his heart beating.The Open Heart Club is both a memoir of a life on the edge of medicine's reach and a history of the remarkable people who have made such a life possible. It begins with the visionary anatomists of the seventeenth century, tells the stories of the doctors (all women) who invented pediatric cardiology, and includes the lives of patients and physicians struggling to understand the complexities of the human heart. The Open Heart Club is a riveting work of compassionate storytelling, a journey into the dark hinterlands between sickness and health lit by bright moments of humor and inspiration.A surprising, groundbreaking, and fiercely entertaining medical history that is both a collective narrative of women’s bodies and a call…
to action for a new conversation around women’s health.For as long as medicine has been a practice, women's bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women’s healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless—a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species, yet uninformed by women’s own voices, thoughts, fears, pain and experiences. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape the (mis)treatment and care of women.While the modern age has seen significant advancements in the medical field, the notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on—as do the pervasive societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women’s health and relationships with their own bodies.Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen draws back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies—how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today’s medical thought, and the many oversights that still remain unaddressed. With a physician’s knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen follows the road map of the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, as well as her own experience treating thousands of women.Empowering women to better understand ourselves and advocate for care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives— for us and generations to come—All in Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women’s medical history is an essential contribution to a holistic understanding and much-needed reclaiming of women’s history and bodies.Never Better: Two Kids, Their Dad, and His Wife's Ghost
Par Gonzalo Riedel. 2024
His wife died before their second son turned one. How can he keep her memory alive when there’s so much…
he wants to forget?There was a time before his wife got sick when Gonzalo could think about other things. They had full lives where death didn’t factor. Where humour was more than a coping mechanism. Life wasn’t all about treatments and recovery, or the emptiness he felt when she died.They had kids together. Young kids. Less than a year after their youngest was born and suddenly he was strapping them both into their car seats to drive to their mother’s funeral.He used to think he was the glue holding the household together. It didn’t take long for him to realize how wrong he’d been. A grieving husband is in no condition to raise kids alone. There were times when he wanted to toss himself into a raging river that would suck him under and bash his skull on the rocks. That’s always an option for another day. For now, he’ll just squash those feelings and drive the kids to daycare.Does it get easier? Of course. But not right away. They say that hope only comes at the end of a long dark journey, but that isn’t entirely true because the journey never really ends. But that means there’s good news: hope is everywhere you look.Big Mall
Par Kate Black. 2024
A phenomenology of the mall: If the mall makes us feel bad, why do we keep going back? In a…
world poisoned by capitalism, is shopping what makes life worth living?Kate Black grew up in West Edmonton Mall – a mall on steroids, notorious for its indoor waterpark, deadly roller coaster, and controversial dolphin shows. But everyone has a favourite mall, or a mall that is their own personal memory palace. It's a place people love to hate and hate to love – a site of pleasure and pain, of death and violence, of (sub)urban legend. Blending a history of shopping with a story of coming of age in North America's largest and strangest mall, Big Mall investigates how these structures have become the ultimate symbol of late-capitalist dread – and, surprisingly, a subversive site of hope."Speaking as a child of PacSun and Hot Topic myself, Big Mall is like a madeleine dipped in Orange Julius. Like a mall, the book itself has a lot of everything, a sublime mix of memoir, history, and cultural criticism. Kate Black is a learned Virgil in the consumerist Inferno, always avoiding the obvious and leading us to surprising connections—oil, suicide, Reddit, squatters, dolphins. Whether malls fill you with nostalgia or horror, this book will change your relationship to the world we've constructed around us.” – Tony Tulathimutte, author of Private Citizens"Before there was Instagram, there was the mall. But what happens when a seasonless, tacky, fantasyland is all you knew growing up? How does one embrace a genuinely fake experience? Or to be more precise, a fake but genuine experience? Kate Black’s Big Mall is a smart, sentimental, and perspective-shifting look at the outsized role that big malls play in modern life. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, one thing’s for sure: after reading this book, you’ll never look at a mall in the same way again." – Ziya Tong, Science broadcaster & author of The Reality BubbleA Dangerous Country: An American Elegy
Par Ron Kovic. 2024
Ron Kovic, author of Born on the Fourth of July and one of the country's most powerful and passionate antiwar…
voices, completes his Vietnam Trilogy with this poignant, inspiring, and deeply personal elegy to America. WHEN EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD RON KOVIC enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1964, he couldn’t foresee that he would return from Vietnam paralyzed and in a wheelchair for life. His best-selling 1976 memoir Born on the Fourth of July became an antiwar classic and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Tom Cruise as Kovic. His follow-up, Hurricane Street, chronicled his advocacy for Vietnam veterans’ rights. A Dangerous Country: An American Elegy completes Kovic’s Vietnam Trilogy, delving deep into his long and often agonizing journey home from war and eventual healing, forgiveness, and spiritual redemption. The book opens with Kovic’s never-before-revealed Vietnam diary (July 7, 1967–July 26, 1968). His entries from this period portray a patriotic young soldier with a strong moral and religious conscience. Kovic then recalls his political awakening after his return from Vietnam confined to a wheelchair following his horrific injury. He also chronicles the tremendous guilt he feels over his accidental killing of a fellow Marine while on patrol. This killing psychologically torments him as much as his severe disability. After years of social, political, and sexual turmoil—and on the brink of suicide—Kovic experiences a powerful epiphany that gives him a reason and purpose to live; a renewed faith and strength to carry on. Although his trauma is severe, his third memoir is ultimately the inspirational story of a survivor finding a way to rise above his depression and despair, forgiving his enemies and himself, and growing deeply committed to a new life.Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who
Par David M. Ewalt. 2013
The Lord of the Rings meets Moneyball in this fascinating and authoritative history of Dungeons & Dragons that &“tracks D&D&’s…
turbulent rise, fall, and survival, from its heyday in the 1980s…to the twenty-first century&” (The Wall Street Journal), by award-winning journalist David M. Ewalt.Even if you’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons, you probably know someone who has: the game has had a profound influence on our culture, and 2014 marks the intriguing role-playing phenomenon’s 40th anniversary. Released decades before the Internet and social media, Dungeons & Dragons inspired one of the original nerd subcultures and is still revered by more than 30 million fans. Now, the authoritative history and magic of the game are revealed by an award-winning journalist and lifelong D&D player. In Of Dice and Men, David Ewalt describes the development of Dungeons & Dragons from the game’s origins on the battlefields of ancient Europe through the hysteria that linked it to satanic rituals and teen suicides to its apotheosis as father of the modern video-game industry. As he chronicles the surprising history of the game’s origins (a history largely unknown even to hardcore players) and examines D&D’s lasting impact, Ewalt weaves laser-sharp subculture analysis with his own present-day gaming experiences, “writing about the world of fantasy role-playing junkies with intelligence, dexterity, and even wisdom” (Ken Jennings). An enticing blend of history, journalism, narrative, and memoir, Of Dice and Men sheds light on America’s most popular (and widely misunderstood) form of collaborative entertainment.Born For War: One SAS Trooper's Extraordinary Account of the Falklands War
Par Tony Hoare. 2022
'Tony is the real deal.' Andy McNabThe full, explosive, boots-on-the-ground story of the Falklands War, from a soldier at the…
heart of the action, published for the 40th anniversary of the conflict. Tony Hoare always knew he wanted to be in the SAS.Both his grandfather and father had been soldiers, and so Tony signed up for the Cadets at 13, then the Infantry at 17 and enlisted into the Royal Green Jackets before passing arduous SAS selection in 1978.Less than four years later, Tony and his team were sent to a collection of islands just off the coast of Argentina called the Falklands, where tensions were rising and war was on the horizon.No amount of training could prepare Tony for what happened over the course of the next twelve weeks, as the Falkland Islands became a battleground between British and Argentinian forces. As helicopters crashed and ships sank, Tony, at the centre of the action, battled across treacherous terrain and against a fearsome enemy, doing whatever it took to retake the islands.From one of the only soldiers who was on the frontline throughout the entire conflict, this is a thrilling account of what really happened in the Falklands, an explosive story of land, sea and air battles from a trooper who saw it all.John Lisle reveals the untold story of the OSS Research and Development Branch—The Dirty Tricks Department—and its role in World…
War II.In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), walked in the door. “You know your Sherlock Holmes, of course,” Donovan said as an introduction. “Professor Moriarty is the man I want for my staff…I think you’re it.”Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Their inventions included Bat Bombs, suicide pills, fighting knives, silent pistols, and camouflaged explosives. Moreover, they forged documents for undercover agents, plotted the assassination of foreign leaders, and performed truth drug experiments on unsuspecting subjects.Based on extensive archival research and personal interviews, The Dirty Tricks Department tells the story of these scheming scientists, explores the moral dilemmas that they faced, and reveals their dark legacy of directly inspiring the most infamous program in CIA history: MKULTRA.Audrey in Paris
Par Caroline Young. 2024
A charming, illustrated gift book combining two timelessly stylish subjects - Audrey Hepburn and the city of Paris.Both classic, both…
inimitable, both fashion icons - Audrey Hepburn and Paris are a match made in heaven. Falling in love with the city at a young age, Audrey returned to Paris again and again in some of her most celebrated films (Sabrina, Funny Face, How to Steal a Million, Charade) wearing outfits from her favourite Parisian couturier, Hubert de Givenchy, and creating some of the most significant fashion moments of the twentieth century.Audrey in Paris brings together over 100 stunning photographs of her most iconic moments in the city, from film stills and behind-the-scenes shots to candid images of Audrey enjoying the city as a visitor. The book also includes a bespoke illustrated map showing her favourite spots. While dozens of successful books on Audrey have been published, this will be the first to document her time in the city of light.Tapping into Audrey's status as a fashion idol, which spans across the generations, as well as Paris's status as the world's capital of elegance, Audrey in Paris combines the gifty charm of How to be Parisian Wherever You Are with Audrey's forever appeal as a fashion muse.Gorgeous finishes will make this a stylish gift book to be treasured for years to come.Audrey in Paris
Par Caroline Young. 2024
A charming, illustrated gift book combining two timelessly stylish subjects - Audrey Hepburn and the city of Paris.Both classic, both…
inimitable, both fashion icons - Audrey Hepburn and Paris are a match made in heaven. Falling in love with the city at a young age, Audrey returned to Paris again and again in some of her most celebrated films (Sabrina, Funny Face, How to Steal a Million, Charade) wearing outfits from her favourite Parisian couturier, Hubert de Givenchy, and creating some of the most significant fashion moments of the twentieth century.Audrey in Paris brings together over 100 stunning photographs of her most iconic moments in the city, from film stills and behind-the-scenes shots to candid images of Audrey enjoying the city as a visitor. The book also includes a bespoke illustrated map showing her favourite spots. While dozens of successful books on Audrey have been published, this will be the first to document her time in the city of light.Tapping into Audrey's status as a fashion idol, which spans across the generations, as well as Paris's status as the world's capital of elegance, Audrey in Paris combines the gifty charm of How to be Parisian Wherever You Are with Audrey's forever appeal as a fashion muse.Gorgeous finishes will make this a stylish gift book to be treasured for years to come.The Complete History of the SAS: The World's Most Feared Elite Fighting Force
Par Nigel McCrery. 2021
Specializing in covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, the SAS is one of the world's most famous, feared and respected…
elite fighting forces. This book tells the full, fascinating story of the regiment, from formation in the sand dunes of Africa during World War II to present action in the Middle East, and incorporates jungle, desert and urban warfare, counter-terrorism and an insider's view at the selection and training methods employed by this usually secretive unit.As well as an insightful foreword by Andy McNab – one of the most famous members of the SAS – this revised, updated edition includes completely new chapters, features and information, including Key Missions in WWII, The Battle of Mirbat, Iranian Embassy Siege, Kenyan Hotel Rescue and Victoria Cross Awards.Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
Par Andrea Lankford. 2023
** THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ** ** AN AMAZON "BEST BOOKS OF THE MONTH" FOR AUGUST 2023 (Biographies & Memoirs)…
** From an award-winning former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author&’s quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up with an eclectic group of unlikely allies. As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. But though she had the support of the agency, Andrea grew frustrated with the service's bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, and left the force after twelve years. Two decades later, however, she stumbles across a mystery that pulls her right back where she left off: three young men have vanished from the Pacific Crest Trail, the 2,650-mile trek made famous by Cheryl Strayed's Wild, and no one has been able to find them. It&’s bugging the hell out of her. Andrea&’s concern soon leads her to a wild environment unlike any she&’s ever encountered: missing person Facebook groups. Andrea launches an investigation, joining forces with an eclectic team of amateurs who are determined to solve the cases by land and by screen: a mother of the missing, a retired pharmacy manager, and a mapmaker who monitors terrorist activity for the government. Together, they track the activities of kidnappers and murderers, investigate a cult, rescue a psychic in peril, cross paths with an unconventional scientist, and reunite an international fugitive with his family. Searching for the missing is a brutal psychological and physical test with the highest stakes, but eventually their hardships begin to bear strange fruits—ones that lead them to places and people they never saw coming. Beautifully written, heartfelt, and at times harrowing, TRAIL OF THE LOST paints a vivid picture of hiker culture and its complicated relationship with the ever-expanding online realm, all while exploring the power and limits of determination, generosity, and hope. It also offers a deep awe of the natural world, even as it unearths just how vast and treacherous it can be. On the TRAIL OF THE LOST, you may not find what you are looking for, but you will certainly find more than you seek.Data Baby: My Life in a Psychological Experiment
Par Susannah Breslin. 2023
A Belletrist Book Pick for December 2023Lab Girl meets Brain on Fire in this provocative and poignant memoir delving into a woman's formative…
experiences as a veritable "lab rat" in a lifelong psychological study, and her pursuit to reclaim autonomy and her identity as a adult. What if your parents turn you into a human lab rat when you&’re a child? Will that change the story of your life? Will that change who you are? When Susannah Breslin is a toddler, her parents enroll her in an exclusive laboratory preschool at the University of California, Berkeley, where she becomes one of over a hundred children who are research subjects in an unprecedented thirty-year study of personality development that predicts who she and her cohort will grow up to be. Decades later, trapped in what she feels is an abusive marriage and battling breast cancer, she starts to wonder how growing up under a microscope shaped her identity and life choices. Already a successful journalist, she makes her own curious history the subject of her next investigation. From experiment rooms with one-way mirrors, to children&’s puzzles with no solutions, to condemned basement laboratories, her life-changing journey uncovers the long-buried secrets hidden behind the renowned study. The question at the gnarled heart of her quest: Did the study know her better than she knew herself? At once bravely honest and sharply witty, Data Baby is a compelling and provocative account of a woman&’s quest to find her true self, and an unblinking exploration of why we turn out as we do. Few people in all of history have been studied from such a young age and for as long as this author, but the message of her book is universal. In an era when so many of us are looking to technology to tell us who to be, it&’s up to us to discover who we actually are.Goth: A History
Par Lol Tolhurst. 2023
The co-founder of The Cure and author of Cured delivers a fascinating deep dive into the dark romanticism of Goth…
music, a misunderstood genre and culture. GOTH is an entertaining and engaging historical memoir, and a journey through Goth music and culture, exploring creative giants like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Joy Division, and many more great bands that offered a place of refuge for the misfits of the &‘80s and ever since. Written by Lol Tolhurst, co-founder of The Cure, this book offers a riveting retrospective of the genre&’s iconic movers and shakers, infused with stories from Tolhurst&’s personal trove of memories, as well as anecdotes about the musicians, magicians, and artists who made it all happen—the people, places, and things that made Goth an inevitable and enduring movement. Starting with the Origins of Goth, Tolhurst explores early art and literature that inspired the genre and looks into the work of T.S Eliot, Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, and Albert Camus, among others. He also outlines the path of Gothic Forebears and shows how many musicians played in punk bands before transitioning into Goth endeavors. Next, he introduces readers to the &“Architects of Darkness&”—Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, and The Cure—the Godfathers of Goth who established the genre's roots. Following these early bands, Tolhurst discusses a group he calls the &“Spiritual Alchemists,&” consisting of bands like Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, and more, who helped the darkness expand into the culture. He also tracks the expansion of the genre overseas, from England to New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. Gothic fashion was an important part of the movement as well, and Tolhurst discusses the clothing that accompanied and complemented the music. Finally, Tolhurst examines the legacy of Goth music, and shows how its influence can still be seen to this day across music, film, TV, visual arts, social media, and more. As thoughtful and thorough as it is utterly bewitching, GOTH is a timeless testament to why Goth matters—and why it always will.Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery
Par Gerald Imber. 2024
Cardiac Cowboys is the dramatic story of five deeply flawed geniuses who together—and in competition with each other—invented open-heart surgery…
against all conventional medical wisdom and saved millions of lives.A decade after World War II, there was still no such thing as open-heart surgery, and yet half a million Americans were dying from heart disease every year. One in a hundred children would suffer and die from congenital heart disease as well, and doctors did little other than predict their deaths. After the first daring operation in 1954 and through the next three decades, five heroic surgeons braved the scorn of their peers, withstood fierce desperation, and faced possible death in order to devise procedures that would save overwhelming numbers of those doomed children and provide hope for a new life to all manner of heart-failing individuals. Devising and mastering heart transplants and bypass surgery, they invented artificial heart valves, the lifesaving pacemaker, and worked toward the holy grail of an artificial heart as their private and professional lives imploded. The story of the Cardiac Cowboys, their outsized personalities, and often self-destructive behavior is a saga more thrilling and exhilarating than fiction.