A gripping,provocative exploration of the National Health Service,told through the most critical moments in its history,and published ahead of the 75th anniversary of its foundation.Since its foundation in 1948,the NHS has been a cornerstone of British life - we are born into it,we are looked after by it,and quite often we die in it. From the sexual revolution of the'60s to the first test tube baby,from the Mental Health Act to the Coronavirus crisis,it has made history again and again - shaping our society and culture.But the NHS has also become a battleground for some of the fiercest political contests of our time; variously perceived as a national treasure that needs to be preserved at all costs,and as a lumbering piece of state machinery in need of renovation. In Fighting for Life,award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman tells the story of a beloved institution through the people who keep it alive - its nurses,its doctors,its patients and the politicians who decide its fate.With her trademark acuity she tells a story that is by turns uplifting and inspiring,and shocking and alarming. Cutting through sentimentality and sloganeering on all sides of the political spectrum,she shows us how our NHS really works,and what it means for our future.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9780241504345Number of pages: 384Weight: 600 gDimensions: 236 x 162 x 38 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A compelling,deftly constructed and powerfully told narrative...Hardman is a meticulous journalist with a gift for storytelling. Necessary readingTerrific ...Every aspect of this history is informed and beautifully writtenVivid 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 unsentimentalIt has by far the best analysis of where the health service came from,and where it's going...full of excellent storiesBrilliantPassionate,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 deservedThis 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 readableA kaleidoscopic history of the NHSHardman'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 existenceA brilliantly written and engrossing biography of the NHS...compelling and even-handedA superb,rollercoaster account of the NHS...This completely riveting and scrupulously researched book shows how,just like its patients,the NHS sways precariously between money,morality and mortality,and trust,trauma and triumphA compelling thriller...Fighting for Life provides vivid and urgently needed context to the familiar daily news stories about the crises in the NHSA must-read for anyone interested in how the NHS started and why we have ended up where we are. A thoroughly fascinating,comprehensive and critical analysisA fascinating,insightful and forensic history of the NHS by a journalist who understands the politics as well as the policy of the health service. Essential readingThis remarkable and immensely readable book looks back at the highs and lows of the NHS's first 75 years,and asks critical questions about its future. Thought-provoking,despairing,eye-opening,and inspiring in equal measureHardman provides an admirable account of the struggles of the (health service)...She is lucid,fair and unpolemical
Isabel Hardman
A political journalist,Isabel Hardman is Assistant Editor of the Spectator and presenter of Radio 4's The Week in Westminster and regularly contributes to other publications including The Times,Observer and Evening Standard. Why We Get the Wrong Politicians,an examination of the contemporary political landscape,is her first book.
Visit the Isabel Hardman author page
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