Lord Brain collects several speeches and essays, done for various medical societies in Britain, in the 1950s, in this volume. Four of the selections concern Samuel Johnson or contemporaries, describing some of Johnson's tics (possibly Tourette's by the description, not diagnosed by Brain). He writes in general about genius, and about perception, with very formal prose. There is also an entertaining description of medical cases in Dickens, and about sitting for a sculptor. Brain must have been more of a literary person than a scientist, although he did author a general neurology textbook. ( )