This is, as they say, unputdownable - I read it in one sitting. It relates tales of extreme courage - physical and moral - but, in the way of the time, the tone is laconic and under-stated. At times the doctor overcomes the author, and even in moments of extreme stress, MacCarthy continues to observe the medical oddities (and sometimes successful improvised treatment) of those around him sliding towards death. For anyone with relations who were POW's in Asia, this book will give some window on their suffering at the hands of the Japanese. The narrative never lacks drama - there cannot be many English-language first person tales of being on the receiving end of the world's second atomic bomb....