Nonfiction Book Reviews
Page Three of FourKing of Hearts by G. Wayne Miller
Time Books, February 2000.Hardcover, 292 pages.
ISBN: 0812930037.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Today, open heart surgery and coronary bypass operations are
performed nearly one million
times a year. Generally, most insurance plans cover the
cost, making the operation within the reach of most
Americans. But until the 1950s,
operating on a live, open human heart was considered
impossible, and finding a skilled heart surgeon of any
kind was rare. Award-winning
journalist and author G. Wayne Miller tells the story
of the father of open heart surgery, Dr. C. Walt Lillehei,
and a band of early surgical pioneers whose groundbreaking
research and experiments paved the way for the
cardiac surgery of today. Using the life story of Dr. Lillehei
as the focal point of the story, Miller portrays the
incredibly dramatic true stories of both the doctors and the
patients' struggles to find a way to keep a human heart alive,
while opening it up and repairing any defects.
The book reads more like a perfectly written thriller than it does a nonfiction book -- one page into the story and you'll be absolutely riveted by the unfolding drama. Meticulously researched, the story conveys the complex medical techniques in an understandable form while not losing any of the scientific details. Miller also does an excellent job of highlighting the many ethical issues involved, from the anti-vivisectionist movement to the debate of the definition of death in the context of harvesting organs for a transplant. Lillehei himself was a fascinating man, full of contradictions: brilliant, risk-taking, charming, yet wildly disorganized in his accounting (he was convicted of tax fraud in 1973), he had as many enemies as he did admirers. But, ultimately, it is his and his colleagues' work which has saved the lives of so many people, and Miller's work does an excellent job of bringing this somewhat forgotten pioneer the recognition he deserves. Highly recommended.
--Claire E. White
Portrait of Great Britain
DK Publishing, October 1999.Hardcover, 720 pages.
ISBN: 0789446081.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Portrait of Britain is a
comprehensive travel guide to
Britain and includes full-page
color photographs, maps,
pictures and details of places
to see and things to do.
The book begins with a brief
history of Great Britain, including a
list of Kings and Queens with
pictures, before exploring the
local regions in detail.
The coverage of local regions
includes historical anecdotes,
historical and natural landmarks,
entertainment, maps, tourist sites
with contact information and
3-D impressions of famous buildings.
Some of the many regions of
Great Britain covered in the book
include London, Yorkshire, Southeast
England, Thames Valley, Northumbria,
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Scotland and Wales.
Portrait of Britain is a remarkable travel guide with full-page color photographs, detailed maps, historical insights and extensive reviews of the best things to see at each site. With this weighty travel tome at your side you will be sure not to miss a thing on your travels through Great Britain and will probably know even more than the tour guides themselves.
Nonfiction Reviews
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