One of the things I love about this book is how it captures the breadth of medicine as a field. From the first written description of breast cancer in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, to modern innovations such as immunotherapy (genetically programming the immune system against cancer), and creating monoclonal antibodies to target specific proteins found only on cancer cells, this book takes you on a journey through medical history and really makes you appreciate how far we have come. This book brands itself as a biography of cancer, but to me it tells the story of humanity’s fight against the disease, and the generations of doctors, researchers and policy workers who have dedicated their lives to stopping it. That’s when I found The Emperor of All Maladies. These were a great insight into the career (if a tad depressing at times), but I really wanted a book that explored the science of medicine in a way that was just as interesting. In Year 12, when I was looking for books to read about medicine, I was recommended loads of ones about life as a doctor: Atul Gawande’s Better: Diary of a Junior Doctor, This is Going to Hurt – the classics.

I would highly recommend reading this book as it gives you a great understanding of a disease which is very relevant today and it gives an insight into how the medical and scientific fields have developed over time. The boom goes over the cellular and molecular biology of cancer cells in a very clear way and also describes medical practices and surgical methods of treating the disease. It starts with the basics of different topics and gradually builds up the complexity to be able to discuss more difficult points while at the pace which the reader is able to follow. I found this book to be extremely well written and easy to read, with the ability to engage readers regardless of prior knowledge on the topic. This includes the government’s role in encouraging research in the field of oncology and also managing public perception of the disease and the fight against tobacco advertising. The book also goes into some detail on the politics that were in play in the history of cancer.

Both successful and failed hypotheses and experiments are discussed and it really gives a full picture of the struggle to get to the point we are currently at in the battle with cancer. It follows the advances in oncology and goes on to describe how those advances went on to influence treatment methods and drug design. It goes all the way from some of the first known cases of cancer where knowledge of the disease was extremely limited right up to the present day. The Emperor of All Maladies written by Siddhartha Murkherjee recounts the history of the research and treatments of cancer and its development over time.

Cancer the emperor of all maladies book