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Cutting it Fine
Iain Macintyre
‘In Cutting It Fine Iain Macintyre has given us a wonderful glimpse into Scottish medicine during the second half of the twentieth century. But this book is much more than that: it is a personal history, a richly-textured story of a life shaped by some very important decades in Scottish history. It is filled with observation and anecdote, and, most of all, it is positive. It is a beautifully written record of what it was to be a surgeon working within a great medical tradition. It is a book filled with light. It is a memorable book. It is, quite simply, a triumph’.
Alexander McCall Smith
Cutting It Fine is the story of a life shaped by Scotland, by a career in surgery and by luck. This memoir traces a professional and personal journey from Hebridean roots to an Argyll childhood, to the operating theatres of Edinburgh and on to roles in medical education and surgical history.
Iain Macintyre reflects on challenges and adventures of a career in surgery, through personal memories and anecdotes, while running through the narrative is the theme of good fortune.
Yet this is more than a memoir. Woven into the storyline are a series of historical vignettes, describing the origins of the Edinburgh Medical School, some inspiring figures in Scottish medicine and Edinburgh’s disappearing hospitals. There is a reminder too of the surprises that emerge from researching family history.
Cutting It Fine reflects on the changes in medicine, in Scotland and in the wider world over an eighty-year lifespan. It is an account of a fortunate life, a revelation of the role played by luck, a reflection on the importance of family and a reminder that even in retirement, we should aim to stay curious, stay useful — and always keep learning.
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