So that was life : a biography of Sir Geoffrey Jefferson

This is a biography of Sir Geoffrey Jackson, the neurosurgeon whose portrait by Sir Gerald Kelly hangs on the staircase of the Royal College of Surgeons.

He was a pioneer in the specialty of neurosurgery in Britain.

He founded the Society of British Neurological Surgeons, and was the president of the First International Neurosurgical Congress.During World War II, he organized a national neurosurgical service under his charge, which was the basis of the present National Health Service facilities.

A memorable speaker, he recorded his original ideas and personal philosophy in numerous eponymous lectures and manuscript notes, and became the recipient of many honours, including the Fellowship of the Royal Society.Lady Jefferson kept almost every letter that her husband wrote to her, as did several of his friends.

These letters are the core of this biography. He served under the Red Cross with the Russian forces in World War I and then in France.

The book records his personal relationships and events in medical and neurosurgical history during the middle of the 20th century, and includes extracts of letters from the American, Harvey Cushing, and others that have not previously been published.