He Died in my Arms by Jane Bruton, Sian Edwards and Martin Jones

Pre-order: Publishes 16 February 2027
 
He Died in my Arms: An Oral History of Nursing in the UK AIDS Epidemic by Jane Bruton, Sian Edwards and Martin Jones
 
A powerful oral history of the nurses whose dedication and compassion transformed HIV care in the UK. With the sudden arrival of AIDS in the UK, healthcare workers confronted a new, deadly and highly stigmatised disease. They had little prior knowledge but deep moral resolve.

This book tells their story in their words. The early response to AIDS was shaped by media fearmongering, conservative moralism and homophobia. Against this, nurses and midwives fought for the dignity, rights and autonomy of their patients, mostly young gay men and people who injected drugs marginalised by society and facing profound discrimination.

Working alongside activists and patients, they tore down the old traditions of nursing and did things differently. Featuring the real voices of twenty-six nurses and one midwife, He died in my arms takes the reader inside the wards and hospices of the 1980s and 1990s, revealing the extraordinary truth of nursing in the AIDS era. It was an experience that profoundly changed the nurses who went through it.

It would change nursing forever.
 
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'He died in my arms is a devastating, essential act of remembrance. These histories display the dignity and compassion of nurses who cared with extraordinary courage during Britain's AIDS crisis. Unflinching, tender and deeply humane - this book demands to be read.' - Tristan Barber, Chair of the British HIV Association
 
'This is such an important book from Jane Bruton, Siân Edwards and Martin Jones, who describe how the work of HIV nurses in the early days of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the UK helped to change the way nursing was practised throughout our National Health Service. A MUST READ.' - Jonathan Blake, diagnosed with 'a virus' (then with no name) in October 1982