Peppered with memories of patients with remarkable problems, this is the story of a doctor’s journey through decades of healthcare from medical school in war-torn London and qualifying to be a happy junior doctor in 1947. Laced with a blend of healthy cynicism and joie de vivre he describes his subsequent career treating and researching old and new diseases, with appointments in high places providing first-hand insights into the great strengths and occasional weaknesses of the colleagues with whom he worked.