The Book Prize Index

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Henry Marsh

In neurosurgery, more than in any other branch of medicine, the doctor's oath to "do no harm" holds a bitter irony. Operations on the brain carry grave risks. Every day, leading neurosurgeon Henry Marsh must make agonizing decisions, often in the face of great urgency and uncertainty. If you believe that brain surgery is a precise and exquisite craft, practiced by calm and detached doctors, this gripping, brutally honest account will make you think again. With astonishing compassion and candor, Marsh reveals the fierce joy of operating, the profoundly moving triumphs, the harrowing disasters, the haunting regrets, and the moments of black humor that characterize a brain surgeon's life. Do No Harm provides unforgettable insight into the countless human dramas that take place in a busy modern hospital.

Medicine & Public HealthMedicine & Public Health · medium confidenceMedicine & Public Health81 signalsLlm Classifier: Medicine & Public Health -> Medicine & Public HealthAward Category: Ackerley Prize: Autobiography and Memoir -> BiographyAward Category: Biography -> BiographyBlack History & CultureDeath, Memory & CommemorationMedicine, Health & the BodyPublic Health Systems

Award History

1 wins · 4 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Ackerley Prize: Autobiography and Memoir2015WinnerOfficial source
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionMajor2016LonglistOfficial source
Wellcome Book Prize: Nonfiction2015ShortlistSecondary source
Costa Book Awards: Biography2014FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (4)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    In neurosurgery, the oath to "do no harm" creates bitter irony because urgent brain operations involve grave risks amid uncertainty, forcing the surgeon to make agonizing decisions.

    Model confidence 74%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    38 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 86%.