Jim Leavesley,Not your ordinary doctor: a cavalcade of artistic apothecaries,footloose physicians and murdering medics

Reviewed by: John Ford, The Society of Apothecaries of London, UK

Jim Leavesley, having trained in Liverpool, emigrated to Australia and in addition to his medical practice there has had a successful secondary career as a broadcaster and author on medical subjects. Much of this has focussed on medical history. For this work he has been awarded the Star of Australia.

Not Your Ordinary Doctor is a collection of short biographies of doctors who have had remarkable lives. It is divided into sections under the broad headings of doctors who treated royalty, those who had another career in the arts, those who were criminals and one which contains a selection of adventurers, inventors, athletes and politicians.

For example, the royal physicians start with Imhotep who flourished in Egypt about 2900 BCE, continues through Ruy Lopez who was executed in 1594 for allegedly plotting to poison Queen Elizabeth and continues through the doctors who treated King George the Third, describes those who pandered to Queen Victoria’s whims, and ends with the unfortunate doctors who feared for their lives when caring for Stalin.

Each section contains some well-known medical truants – the arts have Conan Doyle and Somerset Maugham – as well as some lesser known. How many people know that Richard Gatling who invented the machine gun trained as a doctor? This book is full of interesting surprises.

Written in an easy style with a few illustrations, this paperback book would make an excellent bedside read or Christmas stocking filler for any health professional.