Giving an account of the life of a surgeon, this book looks at what it is like to cut into people's bodies and the - literally life and death - decisions that have to be made. It includes chronicles of operations that go wrong; of doctors who go to the bad; why autopsies are necessary; and what it feels like to insert your knife into someone.

Explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable. This book discusses the ethical dilemmas of doctors' participation in lethal injections and examines the influence of money on modern medicine.