The Trauma Chronicles
by Stephen Westaby

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as I hadn’t read any of his previous works, however, as I dove into the story, I slowly realized how much of a complete jerk Dr Westaby was. And this was the first time I’d read a nonfiction book where I really didn’t like the lead character.

Dr Westaby explains that his impulsiveness and single-mindedness came from a frontal lobe injury he had suffered playing rugby. This, of course, suggests the unfortunate situation that Phineas Gage found himself in after tamping iron pierced his brain and completely changed his personality.

But the more I read this book, I realized that the story isn’t about Dr Westaby as much as it is about the creation of specialty trauma hospitals in England. I was already familiar with some of the history of shock trauma and R Adams Cowley efforts to centralize trauma treatment to hospitals best equipped to handle them in the United States. (Dr Cowley also coined the term “golden hour” to emphasize that patients have the best chance of surviving if they are treated within 60 minutes of their trauma.)

The Trauma Chronicles was well-written and reasonable easy to read. It would be of interest to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of the creation of trauma hospitals in England or interested in medical history.

4/5 stars

[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion which I have given here.]