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On a spring day in 1858, a steamboat docks in Evansville, Indiana. One passenger, a paralysed and half-blind old man, dies shortly thereafter. This man is soon discovered to be the esteemed English doctor, John Pocock Holmes, who has travelled continents and lived countless lives only to die poor and alone far away from home.
Born to a clergy family in rural Nottinghamshire, Dr John Pocock Holmes would spend much of his life traversing great distances and starting anew each time. This long journey to a tragic end began when a young Holmes crossed the Atlantic to work as a surgeon and fur trader for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Upon returning to England, Holmes' career as a physician saw great successes and scandals, from pioneering advances in obstetrics to professional and legal disputes, but abruptly came to an end as Holmes entered the final and most enigmatic phase of his life.
ISBN : 978-1-80074-560-5
Published: 30/11/2023
Pages : 362
Size : 234x156
Imprint : Olympia Publishers
Roger Bloor is a retired Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer with a passion for history and poetry. He has a MA in Poetry Writing from Newcastle University. He was shortlisted for the Arnold Bennett Book Prize 2018 and 2019 and was the winner of the 2019 Poetry London Clore Prize. He has authored and co-authored many chapters in medical textbooks and published widely in academic journals. He researched the material for this biography over many years and travelled extensively in the UK and America to track down the true story of Dr John Pocock Holmes.