Loved this book! Though at times I had to really concentrate when it got a bit medical textbook, I was gripped from the start. The real stories of the patients who did and didn't make it were enthralling and my admiration for those who work in a critical care environment is unbounded. They are superheroes.

Probably interesting for those with no medical knowledge but I found it very patronising and it didn't engage me at all

I've been feeling the need to expand my reading horizons lately so I read Critical: Science and stories from the brink of human life by Dr Matt Morgan. I received a review copy via NetGalley. Here is the synopsis:
Being critically ill means one or more of your vital organs have failed – this could be your lungs, your heart, your kidneys, gut or even your brain. Starting with the first recognised case in which a little girl was saved by intensive care in 1952 in Copenhagen, Matt writes brilliantly about the fascinating history, practices and technology in this newest of all the major medical specialties. Matt guides us around the ICU by guiding us around the body and the different organs, and in this way, we learn not only the stories of many of the patients he’s treated over the years, but also about the various functions different parts of the body.
He draws on his time spent with real patients, on the brink of death, and explains how he and his colleagues fight against the odds to help them live. Happily many of his cases have happy endings, but Matt also writes movingly about those cases which will always remain with him – the cases where the mysteries of the body proved too hard to solve, or diagnoses came too late or made no difference to the outcome.
OK, so perhaps my describing reading Critical as expanding my reading horizons is a bit of a stretch given that I do enjoy memoirs and particularly medical memoirs but it is different to everything I've been reading over the last few months.
Critical was a really interesting read. I had expected more of a standard medical memoir - lots of patient stories and a fair amount about Matt Morgan as a person. Instead we a bit about Matt, some patient stories and a lot of technical information that was well written and easy to follow as a layperson.
I found myself really enjoying the technical bits, especially the history related ones. I was fascinated by the story of Vivi, the little girl in Copenhagen who the first intensive care unit was created for. Reading about the how and whys of the workings of an ICU was also eyeopening.
There is a good balance between all the different aspects of this book, although it might not be the one for you if your interest in memoirs is just about the people. If, however you like a book you can get your teeth stuck into and that makes you think without being stuffy or overly academic then Critical is definitely worth a look. Although different to what I expected from the genre it's a welcome edition and the time spent reading it was well spent.

This book is all about intensive care in hospitals, and describes fully the different parts of the body that become traumatised and require hospital treatment. I enjoyed this book, even though I found it very difficult sometimes as I do not have medical experience.

Critical is a great read and gives insight into the world intensive care unit with really informative information and explains how the whole process works. I found the book to be very compassionate and if you have ever experienced ICU as I have once with a close family member it makes you really understand the ins and outs and the amazing work they do, my only regret is that I wish I would have been able to have read this book before my own personal experience it would have made me a lot more relaxed and would have helped me really connect to the doctors on a more personal level to the duty of car excellent book thankyou

This was a very interesting insight into the intensive care unit and gave a very informative and compassionate account of what goes on and how you might end up there.
The author does a great service especially in explaining how the gift of organ donation works and hopefully will save some lives with this book.

Dr Morgan’s take on medicine, procedures etc in Intensive Care. As someone who is interested in real life medical books I would have preferred to hear more about actual patients and less of the other content, but it was quite interesting and informative even if there was a bit too much of it! Let’s hope none of us need to be in one of these places but if we do it would be nice to think all medical staff would be as caring as this dr obviously is.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were appealing and well written and I felt immersed in the story throughout the book.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a fascinating insight into the daily life of an Intensive Care Doctor. The ups and downs, the hope and tragedy are all captured here.

The book is structured by different areas of the body and the author uses these to relate anecdotes and reflections from his own personal experiences. The history of intensive care provision is also explored to put events into context.

This book really hits home about the fragility of life and the arbitrary nature of survival. Why do some people survive and others don't despite receiving the same provision of care? Sometimes these questions left me feeling frustrated whilst reading this book.

As with many books written by experts in their field there were parts of this book that descended into unnecessary medical jargon and descriptions of procedures. Never enough to leave me confused but I felt the parts devoted to the human stories were more effective.

Overall, an interesting and thought provoking read that made me reflect on the nature of life and death.

If I ever have the misfortune to find myself in ICU, I hope I have someone like Dr Matt Morgan to care for me. What he does is incredible, yet he is so modest - he is someone who has found his true vocation and does a wonderful job. He also writes with honesty and compassion, making this extremely readable without being bogged down in medical terms.

I enjoyed this book, it was factual complete with real life stories. The author explained procedures, policy’s etc and what it was like to be an ICU doctor.
It kept my attention and was informative as well as entertaining .
Well done

This is a story written with tremendous knowledge, a big heart, and real life and death stories as it follows the first patient in a critical care unit to present day patients. If Dr. Matt Morgan is as talented as a doctor as he is a writer then his patients are truly blessed.
This book follows only a few real-life cases from the time that they come into the ICU to the time they either leave to go onto a specialised ward for their care to prepare them for home or it becomes the place that their lives end. The ICU department is for the extremely ill or injured patients that require 24-hour intense care with specialised nurses. The patients have a wide variety of conditions with the only common factor being that they may not survive or could survive but need various degrees of help.
Dr. Morgan takes the reader to the very beginning in 1952 Copenhagen and how the first unit came about. I really liked that this part of the story followed the young patient through her miles stones in life, not just until she was discharged from the unit.
One of the most import things that come across in this book is this Doctor’s ability to connect with not just the patients but all of the people that would be affected with this patients accident or illness. He stresses the importance of communication between family members, just in case, they will ever be faced with difficult decisions and know what their relative would like to happen.
This is a real must-read book from a doctor that cares not just about the medical needs but the patient too. The family that is left to make choices often make them for their own wants, rather than the best of their loved one. This book is written from the heart of someone that wants to make everyone aware that one way or another death will come to us all. We should talk and be clear if it is in the ICU, that everyone knows what you would want to happen and be prepared to follow and respect your wishes.
Highly recommended!

If like me, you find all things medical, interesting, then this thought provoking book will satisfy your curiosity. It is written in a way that those of us without a medical background, will still follow. Really interesting read.

This is a well written, medical memoir telling the story of a doctor in intensive care. These are the sickest, most fragile patients and Dr Morgan is there helping, caring and saving where he can. The sad message of this book is that he can’t save them all no matter what he tries and sometimes there is little to choose between the one who survives and the one who doesn’t. It is set up as chapters about a particular illness or problem with case history/ies and sometimes a medical history of an older time. There is much to learn here about what goes on behind the hospital curtains. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it if you enjoyed other recent medical memoirs.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

An insightful and interesting read that is perfect for those who want to hear a doctors point of view and like to see behind the scenes. Due to the subject matter and the fact that it is a memoir, it is full of medical jargon and doesn't hold back.

I’m afraid I struggled a bit with Critical. Matt Morgan is plainly a good man and a very good doctor, but although the book has a noble aim and deals with important medical and human subjects, I found it difficult to relate to.

I should say first that I can understand all the very enthusiastic reviews form others. There is a lot of very interesting information here about a fascinating topic and I did learn a good deal. However, I had two main problems with the book. The first is that I found its tone a bit patronising in places. I know that it is difficult sometimes to convey complex medical and scientific ideas to non-medics like me, but there really is no need to sound as though you’re addressing a five-year-old, and I did bridle fairly often at the almost childish tone.

My second problem is (and I’m sorry to say this) that Matt Morgan simply isn’t a very good writer. He tries to bring the human stories of his patients to life for us, but they read like a bad novel, full of cliché (“a seventeen year old with the world at his feet,” for example) and over-florid writing which I’m afraid had the opposite effect on me than was intended, in that I couldn’t relate to the stories at all.

It seems churlish to criticise a book on such a subject and with a worthy motive, but the truth is that I was disappointed and although others have plainly enjoyed it very much, I can only give Critical a very qualified recommendation.

(My thanks to Simon and Schuster for an ARC via NetGalley.)

A very thought provoking book that ensures a full understanding of what intensive care is. The memoir gives many examples to assist the reader’s understanding. A very clever unusual way of writing a memoir. Although lots of medical terminology it is all clear to follow.

It's tempting to simply write just 'Buy this book - you will not regret it!' But that would fail to do justice to an inspirational account of the day to day life of an intensive care doctor.

In addition to being a truly fascinating account of just a relatively few cases encountered by the author in his career this book should be required reading for any politician seeking ministerial office in the Department of Health. It would also be a salutary reminder to those working more generally in the administration of the health service that the interface between the wider public and the NHS is not always capable of being managed and reorganised in the way that more routine industrial processes can be.

Dr Morgan writes with passion and not a little skill; the writing draws the reader in as if s/he were watching in the operating theatre or by the patient's bedside. The ease with which pages and chapters are devoured speaks volumes for the considerable fluency the author deploys in his writing. He is equally adept at providing sufficient explanation for the technical and medical aspects of his work for the reader to gain a reasonable insight into the complex set of issues, choices and uncertainties that an intensive care doctor confronts on a daily basis.

Highly recommended!

Critical is a serious scholarly examination of the role of the Intensive Care unit and its dedicated staff: historical, current and future.

Laid out in chapters corresponding to the parts of the body that may see you land under his critical care, Dr Morgan carefully and accessibly explains the history behind intensive care practices and procedures and uses anecdotes from his own experiences to illustrate how such care ‘works’ currently.

Not only did I learn a lot about Intensive Care and the staff that work there, but Dr Morgan’s passion for the work and his determination to provide the very best care for his patients (in whichever individual way may be most appropriate) was inspiring. His personal care and emotional investment permeated the writing and created a reassurance that no matter how busy the hospital, the patients are more than just numbers and diagnoses.

Critical is a fascinating window into the frontline work of saving lives, and a moral exploration of when and whether we always should. This is perfect for anyone who has an interest in medical memoirs, and as an added bonus you will find some life-saving tips included, such as how to effectively perform CPR, because Dr Morgan can never pass up a chance to save a potential patient!



You are my past patient, my future patient, the son, daughter, father, mother or neighbour of my current patient. Although one in five of you will eventually die in an intensive care unit, many of you won’t even know what that is.

– Dr Matt Morgan, Critical

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

CRITICAL ~ Dr Matt Morgan
WHAT DEMENTIA TEACHES US ABOUT LOVE ~ Nicci Gerrard

NB - I reviewed these two titles In a single piece for the Chesil Magazine in Dorset, as they arrived within a day or two of each other, and they seemed to offer the same broad message. In fact, I would recommend anyone who reads either of the two to read the other.
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If there are fates most of us dread, one must be to wake up in an intensive care unit and another must be to wake up to the realisation that dementia has caught you in its terminal grip. Not a happy thought, either of them, yet both these books are full of compassion, hope and a positive view of life and death.

Matt Morgan is a consultant in intensive care and sounds just like the sort of doctor you would like to have around in a crisis, completely on top of the 13,000 diagnoses, 6,000 drugs and 4,000 surgical procedures that make up his survival toolkit. Chapter by chapter, he explains in simple terms what happens when things go seriously wrong with the important bits of your body. He starts where modern intensive care started, with the 1952 Copenhagen polio outbreak (remember polio ?) - with no iron lung available, 1500 volunteer students operated a hand pump non-stop for six months to help a teenage patient breathe. Yet he quotes Voltaire's quip that “the art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease” and he insists that the boss in any care unit is not the doctor, the nurses - “the boss is the patient”.

He concludes that “intensive care is not always about epic saves (and) life-saving wizardry. It is also about compassion, about honesty, about making cups of tea for grieving relatives ...” which neatly introduces the second title. Nicci Gerrard (whom you might know better as novelist Nicci French) writes a moving tribute to her late father which forms the setting for a guide to “the dementia abyss into which meaning is sucked” She can be every bit as clinical as Matt Morgan (“someone develops dementia every three seconds”) but she is just as life-affirming, describing the way in which music, poetry and art can bring some relief from the darkness, or how deep sleep can consolidate fragile new memory traces into “more permanent forms of long-term storage.” And it could be Matt Morgan writing that “there is a great chasm between care and 'care' “ She is fiercely defensive of carers' rights to hospital visiting, and of the need “to focus on what the person with dementia can do, not what they can't.” Time after time, I was brought up short by a telling phrase ~ “confabulation”, people with dementia finding alibis for themselves, finding strategies to cover up memory lapses, confusion and mistakes, or a thoughtful insight ~ “it is easy to know what it is to be young, for everyone has been and still is, somewhere inside, and it is hard for the young (and even for the old, for we see the old at a distance, through the wrong end of a telescope.” Appealing for greater awareness of the “particularly long farewell to the self”, she remarks “When I was a teenager I noticed other teenagers. Pregnant, I suddenly saw all the pregnant women … Now I see countless people who are frail and scared – but that's only because I saw my father so frail and scared.”

I can't hope that I will ever be much good at coping with dementia, but at least I have no excuse not to understand a little more about it.
Nigel Melville