The Life of an Egyptian Doctor

commentary. In this way the work is given continuity. In certain parts, like the sections that deal with traction in the treatment of fractures and the evolution of arthroplasty and osteotomy, we are given an excellent outline of each subject with the original papers used as landmarks in the story. The layout of the book, the type and the small portrait sketches of each character, make the book a visual pleasure. Many of the author's short biographical notes, however, are spoilt by the inclusion of trivialities and humorous asides which mar the otherwise high standard of the book. The selection of material has been good, the cutting of certain papers has been arranged without destroying the sense of the original. It is perhaps unfair to criticize an anthology for being incomplete, but it is disappointing to find no reference to Sir Astley Cooper in the section on fractures, when his Treatise on Fractures and Dislocations laid the foundations of the present-day management of these injuries. It was by following his example that Colles and Smith made their acute observations that are quoted. In fact, Cooper describes a case of Colles' fracture in his book and illustrates it with drawings of a post mortem dissection and a wrist showing the typical dinner-fork deformity. In mentioning Smith's fracture this is described as a supination injury when it is a pronation injury. These are, however, small faults in an otherwise accurate and surprisingly comprehensive book. The book is written by a practising orthopaedic surgeon and it will, I think, have a wide appeal to clinicians who are too busy or lack the facilities to consult the original texts. It will stimulate some to look further into the past and for these there is a complete bibliography and advice on important source books. 40s. It is a happy touch to write one's autobiography for 'my children and my grand-children' for if an excuse is needed, surely this is the best of all. The story is absorbing both for doctors and non-medical readers; in it the author describes his childhood, his student years and his career as a gynaecologist, a career which progressed literally step by step with the establishment of his specialty in Egypt. Mahfouz was born a Christian and he was trained entirely in Egypt, starting school at the American Mission before attending the Government school and passing on to the School of …