Throughout the coronavirus crisis, the fortnightly columns of Private Eye’s Medical Correspondent ‘MD’, aka NHS doctor Phil Hammond, have been required reading.

Astute, compassionate and scientifically literate, ‘MD’ has guided Eye readers through each stage of the pandemic, from every perspective: global and national; political and personal.

In an updated collection of his much-praised columns, and with new wisdom gleaned from charting the failures and triumphs in the continuing battle with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, he sets out what went wrong, what went right – and what needs to happen now as new variants emerge and the UK public looks forward to a long-awaited official government public inquiry.