This is the story of a surgeon, his life and times. It is based
on a series of conversations between the narrator and Dr. Philip
Bosnar over a five year period between 1985 and 1990, during which
the tape recorder was allowed to run freely. The protagonist of
this book was encouraged to speak openly about his hopes and dreams,
his successes and failures. He was also asked to include, as far
as possible, the people and events that influenced his personal
life and chosen career.
The title of this biography, which has been written as a trilogy,
is derived from the classic novel by A.J.Cronin entitled 'The
Citadel,' which had a profound influence on Philip Bosnar when
he was a young doctor on the threshhold of his professional future.
It is the story of the central character's journey through the
trials and temptations of medical practice to his eventual confrontation
with the medical establishment.
Since there was no chronological order to the recorded reminiscences,
the narrator has elected to use his own alternating time sequences
that seemed appropriate to a study of the surgeon's growth and
development from youth to maturity. These time sequences interrelate
his earliest development with the ultimate direction of his life
as an ethical leader and attempted reformer of his chosen profession.
Is this a fictionalized autobiography? That is a question asked
of most writers of narrative novels, and the author of this trilogy
is no exception.
The answer is that all the characters are based to a varying
degree on people the author has known, but are mostly composites.
Several locations are fictionalized, but the names of famous
(as well as infamous) national and international individuals are
clearly stated.
Finally, historical and other events of the twentieth century
are presented as seen through the eyes of the central character,
Philip Bosnar.