Norman Bethune was not an easy man to like. In this new biography by Roderick and Sharon Stewart, we learn that in addition to being brilliant, creative, and compassionate, Bethune was restless, iconoclastic, and sometimes deliberately cruel.

Born in 1890 to evangelical Christians, Bethune developed a strong belief in the value of helping others, which led him to become a surgeon. However, his difficult personality created a cyclical pattern in his life: he would amaze colleagues with his skills, then gradually alienate them with his utter disdain for dissenting opinions. The first half of the book becomes a bit ponderous as Bethune moves from one predictably failed situation to another.

The story picks up steam when it turns its attention to Bethune’s conversion to Communism and his voyage to Spain in 1936 to set up a mobile blood service, which significantly improved the survival rate among soldiers wounded in the Spanish Civil War. Some of his writing about what he saw is reproduced in full, and well it should be: his description of the massacre of civilians after the Battle of Malaga is particularly haunting.

After once again alienating his superiors, Bethune was sent home to raise funds for the Communist cause, but chafed at the inactivity he encountered back in Canada. He saw an opportunity to serve in China in 1938 during the Japanese invasion, and immediately set out to establish his mobile blood units there, and to impose standard medical training in a country overwhelmed by chaos. His two years in China are what made him a household name.

The authors render Bethune’s life in minute detail, and as a result this biography can sometimes be tedious. But the authors show how tirelessly Bethune would work for a cause he believed in. An epilogue discusses the interesting contrast between Bethune’s reputation in China, where he is revered, and Canada, where he remains controversial.

Phoenix leaves no stone unturned in the quest to lay bare the life of a man whose legacy is still being decided. Ultimately, what this book makes clear is that you don’t have to like Bethune to appreciate his significance.