Reviews

Where Angels Fear to Tread is a journey through David’s life, people, places and artists all punctuated with mischievous wit. It is illustrated with photographic archive images, intimate graphic drawings and watercolours by David and his father. Further works are shown from the Author’s private collection of mostly contemporary art, from the hands of artists he has known and met, altogether making this memoir a superb read and a visual feast.

Geoffrey Key (artist), Manchester

Here is a highly entertaining account of a life lived in and out of Medicine. Never still, the author has moved from Scotland to London, America, Manchester, Hong Kong and now Umbria in Italy. He shows a highly tuned sense of justice, while his studies of neolithic jade were pursued with an academic’s forensic skill and resulted in a well regarded book. More recently he has explored a fascinating pair of twin craters in China and what caused them. A great read for any who may think that a medical career is dull.

Lord Leslie Turnberg of Cheadle

His writing is ‘in your face’, and his ‘asides’ contain a wealth of medicine, art, music and profiles of some famous and infamous people. His sense of humour lies somewhere between MARK TWAIN and SPIKE MILLIGAN…. A page turner which illustrates the adage: ‘It’s not the dog in the fight, It’s the fight in the dog.’……. The years as clinical student then qualified doctor from 1959 to the late ‘60s is a ‘MUST READ’ for today’s students and doctor, as he describes the dying days of hands on, eyes and ears wide open, experiential, non-disposable, low-tech medicine practiced by worn out juniors dominated by autocratic consultants.

Professor A M Martin, Edinburgh

A fascinating read enhanced by the unapologetic use of British slang and jargon. However, after only a few pages this potential problem fades as the fascinating life of David Anderson unfolds in a fast-moving chronology. Trained as a clinical and research endocrinologist, David Anderson defies being pigeon-holed as either and launches himself full-force into any and all things of his interest.

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They say the best advice is to stick to what you are good at, which no doubt persuaded many an otherwise ambitious and talented individual to narrow down, and as a consequence lead a fairly dull existence, missing out on their potential. This could never be said about David Anderson who succeeded in many fields, including medicine, academe, his campaigns for justice, his writings, travels, poems, drawings, music and photography.

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Balancing humor and seriousness, Anderson recounts stories of his medical career, his involvement in the Amanda Knox case, and his efforts fighting injustice and imbecility in medicine, geology, paleontology, and other areas that have attracted his polymathic attention. This is a delightful and utterly charming memoir, full of eccentric and amiable characters—and deeply imbued with a passion for life. Highly recommended!

Douglas Preston, author, The Monster of Florence, and Lost City of the Monkey God