Robert M. (shotokanchef) reviewed on + 813 more book reviews
Who, or what, is the fortress? Could it be our own doctor darling of the story? More probably it is his wife. The story begins in the coal-mining country of South Wales, during the early decades of the twentieth century. Wales is no longer the Avalon of eld. Dr. Cronin puts his hero through the paces as an upstart medical assistant fresh out of school. He quickly makes friends and enemies, yet becomes the Batman of the community. Eventually he moves to the great city (London) to open a private practice, where he succumbs to mammon and the system. Much more than a story, this is an indictment of the entire British medical community and a system of good old boys (I almost used a more crass term), as well as the pursuit to avarice. In many ways it is not unlike our present system of higher education: self-serving, oriented on personal recognition and remuneration, rewarding the pursuit of brawn over brains; a system in which everyone blows his own horn! A pointed reflection of what we have become, or yet remain, this book is as befitting today as when it was written.
