Burma Surgeon is a biographical account by physician Gordon S. Seagrave who narrates his twenty years of experience in war-torn Burma. It was published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1943. Seagrave did not leave the country when he had a chance since he realized that the region was dependent on him for healthcare. He was later charged for treason when the rebel group by Kachin Lieutenant Naw Seng came into power. Burma Surgeons was his third book. He later also published another book Burma surgeon returns.
Critical reception
Jean C. Sabine reviewed the book positively in Bulletin of the History of Medicine, calling it a "vigorous, chatty account" of Seagrave's decades-long experience.
Sequel and adaptation
A sequel book, Burma Surgeon Returns, was published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1946. The book was also adapted to a podcast titled The Cavalcade of America: "Burma Surgeon" by Milton Wayne and Robert Richard in 2013.
References
- Goette, John (1943-08-08). "A SURGEON IN THE JUNGLE; An American Medical Missionary Describes His Twenty Years' Practice in Peace and War BURMA SURGEON. By Gordon S. Seagrave, Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Corps, U.S.A. 295 pp. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. $3. Surgeon in the Jungle (Published 1943)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- C. P. (September 8, 1943). "Reviewed Work: Burma Surgeon by Gordon S. Seagrave". Far Eastern Survey. 12 (18): 184. doi:10.2307/3022701. JSTOR 3022701.
- "On This Day | The Day When a US Medic was Jailed in Myanmar for Treason". The Irrawaddy. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- "Burma Surgeon Returns". Journal of the American Medical Association. 132 (6): 357–358. 1946-10-12. doi:10.1001/jama.1946.02870410045027. ISSN 0002-9955.
- "Trove". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- Sabine, Jean C. (January 1944). "Reviewed Work: Burma Surgeon by Gordon S. Seagrave". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 15 (1): 141–142.
- Hume, Edward H. (1949). "Reviewed Work: Burma Surgeon Returns by Gordon S. Seagrave". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 4 (4): 486–487. doi:10.1093/jhmas/IV.4.486.
- "The Cavalcade of America: "Burma Surgeon" | AU Digital Research Archive". auislandora-stage.wrlc.org. Retrieved 2021-02-01.