'Emotionally detached and empathetic; elite, esoteric, and plagued by bureaucracy; robust, resilient, but suffering under unique emotional pressures. It is precisely these contradictions that have made the surgical stereotype so enduring.' Brilliant, volatile, and almost invariably male, the surgical stereotype is a widespread and instantly recognisable figure. In Cold, hard steel, Agnes Arnold-Forster sets out to anatomise this stereotype, offering an exciting new history of modern and contemporary British surgery. Arnold-Forster draws on archival materials and original interviews with surgeons, analysing them alongside a range of fictional depictions, from the Doctor in the House novels to Mills & Boon romances and the pioneering soap opera Emergency Ward 10. Presenting a unique social, cultural, and emotional history, she shines a light on the development and perseverance of the myth of the modern surgeon and explains why it has proved so long-lasting. At the same time, she explores the more candid and compassionate image of the surgeon that has begun to emerge in recent years, revealing how a series of high-profile memoirs both challenge the surgical stereotype and simultaneously confirm it.