This book is different from all previous historical books on Surgery. It is because of specialisation at the second half of the 20th century that there is a need for a narrower but deeper knowledge for the practising surgeon. Though there are many erudite books published already on the history of general surgery, these are books for general surgeons, written by true general surgeons. We hope the book will appeal to all grades of surgeons who may be involved in Surgical Gastroenterology, either now or in the future. Where possible we have tried to tell the story of how progress was made, with an emphasis on the character and work of each surgical pioneer in the right chronological order. The last chapter gives a biographical summary of each mentioned pioneer, in alphabetical order, including the briefest mention of their non-gastroenterological achievements. Finally, unlike any currently available book on the history of surgery, we have extended the surgical evolution to the dawn of minimal invasive (key-hole) surgery, as the arrival of this aspect is a story of interest in its own right.