Author Peter Flower

What was it like to be a country doctor in the Victorian period and discover that your wife and mother-in-law had Graves’ disease?

Author Peter Flower explores the life of his GP grandfather, Reginald Grove, in a three-volume biography. Reginald‘s MD thesis was on Graves’ Disease and he wrote a number of letters about the disease over the next few years to the British Medical Journal. His original research is reproduced in this last volume together with a postscript by three doctors from his family on how medical science and knowledge has improved since then.

Reginald made a distinctive mark on the life of his community and was remembered at his death with great affection and respect as a reassuring family doctor who knew his patients personally, visiting them by horse, attending home births, and carrying out simple operations on the kitchen tables of their homes.

Due to a family history of Graves' disease, and Reginald Grove’s interest in this autoimmune condition, Peter is kindly donating profits from the book to the BTF. You can buy a copy online at:

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Dr Gareth Tuckwell, Vice President, Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care, former General Practitioner, Chairman of Sanctuary Care Boards, Chairman ME Trust, and joint author of 'Talking about Dying', and 'A Question of Healing’ said:

‘This is a remarkable book and a timely publication when so many people today long for a doctor who knows them well. Reginald made personal friends of his patients and knew their past history and domestic troubles. He always emphasised the fact that doctors have to deal with human beings, with their body, mind, spirit and emotions affecting every aspect of their wellbeing.