Fighting for Life

A gripping, provocative exploration of the National Health Service, told through the most critical moments in its history, and published for the 75th anniversary of its foundation

Since its foundation in 1948, the NHS has been a cornerstone of British life - we are born into it, we are looked after by it, and quite often we die in it. From the sexual revolution of the '60s to the first 'test tube baby', from the Mental Health Act to the Coronavirus crisis, it has made history again and again - shaping our society and culture.

Meanwhile, the NHS has also become a battleground for some of the fiercest political contests of our time, either perceived as a national treasure that needs to be preserved at all costs, or as a lumbering piece of state machinery in need of renovation. In Fighting for Life, award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman tells the story of a beloved institution through the people who keep it alive - its nurses, its doctors, its patients and the politicians who decide its fate.

Drawing on interviews with key decision-makers, from former Prime Ministers and Health Secretaries to NHS bosses, as well as access to the patients and keyworkers at the beating heart of the health service, she reveals with trademark incisiveness a chequered history that is by turns uplifting and alarming. Cutting through sentimentality and sloganeering, she shows us how our NHS really works, and what it means for our future.

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