A Surgeon and his family's adventures among the Gurkhas Peter Pitt FRCS, FRCP £15.00,  978-0-95-520590-3,  248pp,  Hardback,  May 2006

Medical Sciences History
This is a heart-warming book to read and it reflects the high regard that both Gurkha and British have for each other.

Customer review on amazon.co.uk
The uncomplaining stoicism, courage and patience of injured or very sick Nepalese, and the treatments prescribed by the author, serves to remind those of us Western hypochondriacs with intolerant and presumptuous aspirations for our own health that the human body actually contains almost infinite capacity for repair, given time, skilled medical treatment and an appropriate attitude of mind. This is a valuable lesson, and the book is a timely addition to the current debate on healthcare in our cosseted, couch-potato society. It is to be applauded.

highbeam.com
With compassion and cultural sensitivity Major Pitt relates his experiences as a surgeon serving in the British Military Hospital in Nepal from 1966-68

The Writer
So it is with Peter's magical book: an amalgam of personal diary, travel guide, important military and social history, textbook of tropical medicine, essential guide to signs and symptoms in clinical diagnosis, and an essay on the most virtuous and compassionate way through the minefield of offering medical care to an ethnically and culturally alien group of people, bound to the British Army by the fickle strands of history and tradition. It is a well-written and beautifully illustrated book.

Major Peter Pitt provides a fascinating account of his experiences as a surgeon at the British Military hospital in Dharan, East Nepal in the 1960s and provides snapshots of life in Hong Kong and Calcutta at the time.

The British Military Hospital was relatively small but had to cater for Gurkha soldiers serving in the depots as well as British staff and their families. With no roads or medical centres available, the soldiers arriving for treatment had often walked or been carried before reaching Dharan to seek help for their medical problems creating its own challenges. Diseases such as, cholera, rabies and tuberculosis were widespread. Snake bites, attacks on villagers & soldiers by tigers, leopards and bears contributed to the great number of urgent operations Peter Pitt carried out under extremely difficult conditions. Exciting, often unimaginable and intriguing, this book evokes a strong sense of what life was like overseas during that time.

Peter Pitt made an invaluable contribution to maintaining the goodwill of all hill people in the surrounding area and the relationships he forged with his patients are described with endearing compassion. His appreciation of their beliefs and customs, set at the backdrop of disaster, disease and political unrest makes this a compelling read.

Powerful, insightful, historically sound and packed with beautiful illustrations and photographs, this book will capture the imagination of anyone interested in medical history, especially surgical history, or just those with a passion for interesting stories.

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