An onerous task, this garnering and interweaving of surgical progress from the days of the cave man to the present, but it is capably handled with a high degree of reader interest. In itself it is a fascinating story -- Graham begins with the skull trepans in neolithic days with a flint operating tool -- traces surgical methods through the Old World where Hippocrates and Galen made the first scientific beginnings. A handful of men stand out through the centuries for their unique contributions to surgery: Vesalius for anatomical knowledge, Pare, first great surgeon, next Harvey; and finally triumph over pain and sepsis, Simpson and Morton contributing anaesthesia Lister, antisepsis. Then to modern times and the growth of more specialized surgical developments -- obstetrical, eye and ear, etc. Together with the material on biographies and contributions is a wealth of period material, perhaps too onesidedly drawn from English sources, but nonetheless fascinating,which emphasizes the obstacles that superstition, quackery, church and legal ritual have placed in the road of modern methods. Stands out from the welter of medical material to date.