Almost fifty years since its first publication in 1967, A Fortunate Man, John Berger’s classic account of the life of a solo general practitioner in rural Gloucestershire, has been reissued by Canongate with an enthusiastic introduction by the young Scottish doctor and writer Gavin Francis which quotes passages from the impressive first reviews by figures as illustrious as Tom Maschler and Philip Toynbee (a patient). A Fortunate Man has been praised by everyone from Geoff Dyer to Alain de Botton and even called the best book ever about general practice; and I can recall the names of colleagues who decided…