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The Emperor of All Maladies Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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A comprehensive history of cancer – one of the greatest enemies of medical progress – and an insight into its effects and potential cures, by a leading expert on the illness.

In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee, doctor, researcher and award-winning science writer, examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with - and perished from - for more than five thousand years.

The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience and perseverance, but also of hubris, arrogance and misperception, all leveraged against a disease that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out ‘war against cancer’. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories and deaths, told through the eyes of predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary.

From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave cut off her malignant breast, to the nineteeth-century recipient of primitive radiation and chemotherapy and Mukherjee’s own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through toxic, bruising, and draining regimes to survive and to increase the store of human knowledge.

Riveting and magesterial, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments and a brilliant new perspective on the way doctors, scientists, philosophers and lay people have observed and understood the human body for millennia.

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  1. Listening Length
    20 hours and 45 minutes
  2. Author
    Siddhartha Mukherjee
  3. Narrator
    Stephen Hoye
  4. Audible release date
    2 Aug. 2011
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HarperCollins Publishers Limited
  7. ASIN
    B005FM7BGO
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 20 hours and 45 minutes
Author Siddhartha Mukherjee
Narrator Stephen Hoye
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.co.uk Release Date 02 August 2011
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B005FM7BGO
Best Sellers Rank 18,589 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
13 in Medicine History & Commentary
34 in Biology (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
9,022 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book amazing, powerful, and easy to read. They also appreciate the well-written, beautiful mechanisms and no foolish emoting. Readers describe the content as highly informative, comprehensive, and superb. They mention the history content as amazing and uplifting.

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ReadabilityWriting styleContentHistory contentEmotional impact
87 customers mention ‘Readability’87 positive0 negative

Customers find the book amazing, beautifully written, and engaging. They also say it's a powerful work.

"...a shocking conclusion: "Cure? None".This is a very good book that has already raised the bar of nonfiction." Read more

"...had to be given the complexity of the tale, but I found it almost compulsive reading and difficult to put down...." Read more

"Very well writen and interesting book. Can only recommend this book...." Read more

"...I found it a riveting read...." Read more

77 customers mention ‘Writing style’73 positive4 negative

Customers find the writing style well written, accessible, and clear. They also say the story is well drawn and insightful. Readers also appreciate the many references at the end and the finely woven and rich tapestry of a story. They say the book offers no false hope, foolish emoting, or boasting about the author.

"...The prose is at all times pitch-perfect and never falters, even in a 400-plus science book...." Read more

"...The author is clear-sighted and objective in his treatment of the people who played key medical, scientific, political, and advocacy roles in the..." Read more

"Very well writen and interesting book. Can only recommend this book...." Read more

"...I found it a riveting read. The author's writing is lively and he explains complex ideas with great clarity using terms understandable by a..." Read more

70 customers mention ‘Content’70 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly informative, engaging with the narrative style. They say it's detailed, accurate, and has raised the bar of nonfiction. Readers also describe it as a skillfully written biography of cancer and the battle against it. They find it approachable and sympathetic, balancing elements of science, history, biography, and autobiography.

"...None".This is a very good book that has already raised the bar of nonfiction." Read more

"...Indeed, what makes it so impressive is its combination of scientific clarity with a most unusual degree of understanding of the human and social..." Read more

"...Can only recommend this book.It very nicely explains the development of cancer care (in a clinical sense) and cancer research over the..." Read more

"...It is an epic tale of scientific discovery, medical progress, and the enduring hope for a future where cancer is no longer a formidable foe...." Read more

25 customers mention ‘History content’22 positive3 negative

Customers find the history content amazing, well written, and excellent. They also say the story is told well, taking them on a tour around all aspects of cancer. Readers also mention that the book is a wonderful story of unsung heroes.

"...The author's historical approach works wonderfully well, chronicling the development of both understanding of cancer..." Read more

"...disease, but don't be put off from reading this book: it's an amazing story and should give hope that it's finally being brought under control." Read more

"...Mukherjee's narrative is both historical and personal, blending scientific rigor with poignant human stories...." Read more

"...For me, the book is a wonderful story of unsung heroes, those scientists working tirelessly in lonely, windowless basements trying to find the next..." Read more

17 customers mention ‘Emotional impact’17 positive0 negative

Customers find the book uplifting, rich in detail, and emotional. They also describe the author as exceptionally warm-hearted and kind. Readers also mention the book is not depressing and personal enough to engage those who don't.

"...The voice of the author, and its language, are always clear, personal and sober...." Read more

"...The writing is intelligent, lucid, and sympathetic, marked by an uncommon ability to convey complex phenomena in a meaningful and comprehensible..." Read more

"...adds depth to our understanding of the disease and instills a sense of hope and determination in the fight against cancer...." Read more

"...It is very readable, avoiding unnecessary medical jargon. It offers no false hope, no foolish emoting, no boasting about the author's successes as a..." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera
5.0 out of 5 stars Nonfiction at its best
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 December 2023
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Popular science (or nonfiction) has become a genre, probably the most popular these days. See the best-sellers newspaper lists or the desks of any major bookshop and those will be plagued with the new form of nonfiction. Where before we were offered "how to guides" (how to get rich, thin, a better lover or parent) now we have perhaps better choices in the form of studies on almost everything: types of personalities, control of habits, approaches to group sociology, etc. etc. This is a healthy field, but marred recently by superficial books.
This "Emperor of all Maladies", most thankfully, stays at a safe distance of this recent trend of simple and/or rushed books and is already a canonical and exemplary nonfiction treaty of one of the fiercest and more devastating of maladies. It is superb.
Everything works in this volume, because the author is an eminency in his field, but he is never patronizing or condescending. He never writes as from a pulpit nor tries to impress the reader with his obviously vast knowledge of the matter at hand. Importantly, Mr Mukherjee never (not once) falls for easy sentimentalism or tries to engage through pity - and falling for this would be easy in a book about cancer. The reader feels at all times that the author is a mere guide with an authoritative voice. And yet some moments do provoke the reader to cringe, almost to suffer: the patient that consols the doctor when all the options for a cure are exhausted; the process of dealing with the empty beds in a children's ward, among others, are parts hard to finish.
The prose is at all times pitch-perfect and never falters, even in a 400-plus science book. The voice of the author, and its language, are always clear, personal and sober.
The book works also at another level, that of the politics of tackling such a disease. The right way to fight the malady or how to fund the enormous efforts to do so, become long and vapid discussions between bureaucrats and, at points, decades are lost because of lack of focus, pure greed or pettiness. The science is there - since the Egyptians, who spotted the malady yet reached, in 2600 BC !, a shocking conclusion: "Cure? None".
This is a very good book that has already raised the bar of nonfiction.
4 people found this helpful
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James Douglas
5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary, Amazing Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2014
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This is probably the best piece of science writing I have ever read. Indeed, what makes it so impressive is its combination of scientific clarity with a most unusual degree of understanding of the human and social dimensions of the story. The writing is intelligent, lucid, and sympathetic, marked by an uncommon ability to convey complex phenomena in a meaningful and comprehensible way.

The author's historical approach works wonderfully well, chronicling the development of both understanding of cancer (mostly the realm of scientists) and treatment of cancer (largely the realm of doctors). The book is long, as it had to be given the complexity of the tale, but I found it almost compulsive reading and difficult to put down. The author is clear-sighted and objective in his treatment of the people who played key medical, scientific, political, and advocacy roles in the past 60 years, considering them and their activities - and their successes and failures - objectively and with a fine sense of how they struggled to deal with this brutal, often mysterious, and always frustrating disease. This telling of the human story is strengthened further by his inclusion of cancer sufferers and their experiences, not for pathos or shock effect but to provide an essential additional dimension.

This is a book from which I have learned a great deal, not only about cancer and how we have come to better understand it and deal with it, but also about how science and medicine function in the real world. I recommend this book whole-heartedly.
One person found this helpful
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creinh5s
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good overview of the history of cancer care and cancer research.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2023
Verified Purchase
Very well writen and interesting book. Can only recommend this book.

It very nicely explains the development of cancer care (in a clinical sense) and cancer research over the centuries. I liked that it also highlighted quite clearly all the failures and detours oncologists and scientists made over the years to finally arrive where we are today.

Also well understandable for anyone not in the field. I would have liked a few more pictures around the cell structure to help with understanding.

Small shortcoming of the paperback version (hence only 4 points): The letter size is a felt size 7. It would have been benficial to add a couple more pages and have larger lettering.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Santhosh kumar CT
5.0 out of 5 stars Cancer - is it really a disease ?
Reviewed in India on 15 May 2024
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One of the best ever books available on cancer. Excellent collection of facts combined with a stunning display of story telling makes even a dull subject like cancer into an exhilarating one. Is cancer really a disease ? The answer lies in the book 😉
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pd77
5.0 out of 5 stars Long but very interesting.
Reviewed in France on 19 January 2023
Verified Purchase
I first read "The Gene" that I liked very much. This one is also very good. It is long, but never boring. It also gives some moderate hope that one day we "will not die of cancer, but just die with cancer."
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Alberto
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful story narrated by a skilful writer
Reviewed in Spain on 30 September 2021
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I was looking for some scientific information about cancer, and I stumbled upon this book. I was expecting a somewhat boring chronology of cancer research; I couldn't have been more wrong.

The author makes a wonderful job in selecting stories and "storylines", and telling them in an enjoyable style (a well-deserved Pulitzer). You will travel through history and follow the fall of the humoral theory, the rise (and fall) of radical surgery, the rise (and fall) of radical chemotherapy, and the rise of the genetic theory of cancer.

It turns out that following the evolution of the scientific understanding of cancer is the best way to learn about it. In addition to cancer itself, the book teaches much about science going wrong: scientific communities following dogmas and being blind to evidence against them; a premature all in battle against cancer (lacking mechanistic understandings); fabrication of data; politics and corporations hampering scientific research; the loss of connection between doctors and patients.

A highly suggested read, although the book is slightly outdated now.
2 people found this helpful
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Isaac, cliente Prime
5.0 out of 5 stars Historia del cáncer.
Reviewed in Mexico on 25 May 2018
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Es un gran libro para entender la historia de cómo hemos entendido y tratado está terrible enfermedad. También nos presenta el estado actual de la lucha contra el cáncer y el posible futuro. Muy bien escrito no por nada ganó el Pulitzer en 2011.
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carlafed
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling narration
Reviewed in Italy on 10 December 2019
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I liked this book very much. Despite the very tough and sensible subject, it is a compelling narration. Of course it shows the point of view of the author, but it is extremely convincing and made me understand much. For example, it makes it very clear that the real heroes of the war against cancer are the patients, men, women, children, all the suffering people. Every single little step forward defeat of the malady is their victory. The science is simplified, but accurate; at the end, one gets the feeling that cancer is a complicate monster, much more complicate than expected, and will require still more skill and struggle.
Quite demanding read, but necessary, I recommend this book, it can, and should, be read by many.
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