The Living History of Medicine

The history of medicine is a living one and involves much more than reflecting on the battles that have been won or lost in the ever-changing struggle against disease. The living history really lies within man himself and too often the human side of this story is neglected. As doctors, we have been trained to focus on the signs of disease and consequently, we pay little attention to the people who discovered them. When we read in our pathology texts about the interesting triad of defects in an illness such as Hand-Schuller-Christian disease, we tend to forget about the doctors who faced great personal hardships to bring us the information we now use to treat the disorder.

Dr Treacy is recognised as one of the most influential aesthetic practitioners in the world. He was awarded ‘Top Aesthetic Practitioner in the World’ (2019) and ‘Doctor of the Year’ UK & Ireland (2019). In this fascinating book, he takes us on a journey with Osler’s famed ‘Goddess of Medicine’ and explains how she is continually on the move, fleeing from battles, tyranny, and oppression, seeking to find a home where man can have study pathology in peace. She has moved from Edinburgh to Dublin, from London to Vienna, from Berlin to Maryland, then onwards to California to guide doctors in the wonders of new technologies, translating the genetic blueprint, manipulating defects in the data code of our existence and help us all fight the more complex diseases like the coronaviruses of the new millennium.

The Lodgers

Lynsey Logan, a London-based novelist, usually keeps the plots of her novels a secret. One evening, her best friend, Emma Carmichael, comes to discuss her list of characters, who Lynsey finds most unpleasant. The worst character is a Broadway ‘hoofer’, a song and dance queen called Lynda Lombardi who is appearing in a Broadway show called ‘Bitches on Broadway’. She has a daughter called Isabel, and a highly objectionable grandson called Peter, whose chief desire is to murder his grandmother, so he, his mum and dad could inherit her house in Beverly Hills.

Lynsey is horrified to wake up the next morning to discover that all her characters have moved into her apartment in Belsize Park and declare they have come to lodge with her. Like a good hostess, Lynsey takes Isabel and Peter to the Tower of London and arranges for Lynda to tour the National Theatre in London. She also arranges for her friend, Emma, to come and meet them all one evening; Lynsey and Lynda cook up a big chilli, and after a heavy meal and too much red wine, Emma decides to stay the night.

Much to Lynsey’s horror, they wake up in New York, in an apartment that Lynda has rented in New York, minus clothes or papers. Emma insists on seeing the sights of New York, and she and Lynsey visit the Tenement Museum in downtown New York where they visit the famous Katz Deli. After seeing Lynda in her ‘Bitches on Broadway’ show, they get arrested for being mixed up in a #MeToo demonstration outside the theatre. Lynda is now keen for them to return to London. Lynda’s agent arranges for Emma and Lynsey to return to Southampton on a Cunard Liner returning after an onboard literary festival if Lynsey teaches some creative writing courses during the return cruise. He also arranges for Lynsey’s neighbour to use her key safe to extract her passport from her apartment and do the same in Emma’s apartment. This works and the three of them return by taxi to London. Lynsey happily packs up all the clothes she has borrowed to post back to New York, then goes to bed exhausted. She is awoken the next morning by the sound of somebody moving around her apartment, is it all happening again?

The Lonely Bear

Two children help rescue a very sad and lonely moon bear trapped in a circus in this heartwarming tale of kindness. The story reminds us of our responsibilities for all animals’ rights to be free to live in their own habitat. Proceeds from this book go to Animals Asia to build sanctuaries for moon bears released from the cruelty of captivity.

The Lonely Gotha

When Harold had to leave war torn, gloomy North London in the early years of the First World War, he had mixed feelings. Still mourning the death of his father on the Somme, Harold’s mother was taking him to live with her sister and uncle in the seaside town of Westgate-on-Sea, on the south-east coast of Kent. Harold remembered one previous visit, in the summer before the war, of squawking seagulls, striped deckchairs and a tiny cottage on the shore. A holiday was one thing, but what would living there be like, away from everything and everyone he knew?

The Lonely Man

The action begins with a safe blowing at a large publishing house.

Conspiracy and murder scenes are just as compelling, along with intelligence and mastermind criminals.

All the characters race against time and are determined not to be murdered, delivering all the storytelling twists that readers will want more of.

The Lonely Pea

Parents, have you ever noticed that even when you’ve really gone to a lot of trouble cleaning up after dinner, there always seems to be a single pea left behind? One pesky pea that refuses to meet his fate on the plate.
And have you ever imagined how that pea must feel?
No? Just me?
Well, let me enlighten you...

The Lonely Potoo

There once was a lonely potoo.

The other animals would giggle and cry,

‘Oh look, it’s the ugly potoo...I can’t be friends with you!’

One day, the potoo was tired of feeling gloomy and down.

So he flew from his tree, hoping a friend could be found.

Will the clever potoo be able to trick the other birds using a not-so-perfect disguise?

The Long Road to Freedom

People in my position must often ask themselves what the answer is? How did I get here? At what cost?

And how did I finally come out on the other side, into a world where the grass is green and smells fresh. And where life is worth living and relishing for every last facet of its existence - a place where utopia can exist for the simplest of men.

It is ironic that what finally triggered my debut book was being handed the psychiatric report on our youngest daughter’s suicide.

People always say that inside every good journalist is a book, and I always joked that that ruled me out in that case.

But then I thought about what everyone is looking for - the secret of a happy life. And this story is about the journey that it took to get there.

We will never be able to bring her back. Obviously. But we can take massive strides towards rebuilding a family that was once so strong, and bringing it back to a time when laughter really was the most valuable thing we had.

You will laugh and you will cry in equal measure, and hopefully somewhere along the way you will be inspired.

But what you could not do, no matter how you tried, is make any of this stuff up.

The Long Shadow

The pandemic is over. Humanity is saved. The misery is over. Or is it?

From the wreckage of the old world, a new order has arisen. On the banks of the Borava River, a city stands divided between two oppressive civilisations engaged in an endless struggle with one another. Under the callous rule of their power-hungry overlords, the people long for liberation yet can find no cause for hope or redemption.

Amidst the contradictions and hypocrisies of this decaying world however, a string of unexplained murders ignites a spark of renewed enthusiasm as an investigation unfolds in a desperate search for answers to the murderous mystery.

It is an endeavour which will lead straight to the grim and uncomfortable truth lying at the very heart of this post-pandemic civilisation, a truth which is better left unknown...

The Long Shot

High stakes gambling, murder and cricket. An unlikely mix? Perhaps in the genteel days of games on the village green, but not so now. The introduction of sports betting has changed the game for players and fans alike. 

Millions change hands with every match. As the financial incentive grows, so too does the temptation to cheat. 

Perhaps even to commit murder?

A brilliant young South African batsman, Winston Olonga, is assassinated in a Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Enter Lucas Fox, commentator and private eye, who witnesses the killing and sets out to find the culprit.

The Long Wave

The Long Wave

This little book of poems will bring you love and comfort, reassurance and hope.
It will lighten your saddest moments and enhance those happiest memories.
Surely, some of these poems will make you smile at life’s sillier moments.

The Lost Man and Other Tales

When our two children were small, we lived on a small farm near Exeter. The farmyard was immediately outside the house which meant I could spend a little time with our two sons at their teatime and go indoors again when they were bathed and put to bed. My wife would read to them, and then I would. As they got older, I would tell them stories too, often involving input from them too. Hence, the idea of creating stories as well as just reading other people’s writing.

A few years later, I felt the need for the extra income, so I did a one-year teacher training course at St. Luke’s College and took a part-time job at our local secondary school, teaching slow readers. A colleague there, a teacher of English, heard of my occasional scribblings and asked for some short stories for her to use in class. This worked surprisingly well.

For a number of reasons, we sold the farm in 1978 and moved to a house with a three-acre paddock near Kingsbridge. I became a full-time teacher with multiple handicapped teenagers. Not much time for writing. Also, in later years, when we were gardening beside the River Dart a few miles downriver from Totnes, there was no time for writing.

However, when we sold our smallholding and retired to Totnes in 2000, I took up writing again and got down to it more seriously. This book is the result of my scribbles over the last 20 years.