The author is an expert surgeon and GP and more and takes you through the journey of how to become an expert. He cites examples from other diverse experts he has met such as a hairdresser and lacemaker and he shows why we need experts and for them to share their expertise. We are apparently all on our way to becoming experts in our respective fields. This isn’t a book like anything else I have read before and I am not sure what to make of it. It was interesting and maybe this would have been great at the start of my career.

There has long been snobbishness associated with certain ”prestigious” professions and often accompanied by a patronising tone used towards those perceived to be in ”inferior” employment, usually blue-collar jobs and any work involving manual labour. But what Roger Kneebone explains in Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery, his absorbing debut, is that we are all on the road to becoming experts on a vast array of subjects which differ from person to person based on a person's preferences and interests. As a leading academic at Imperial College London, Professor Kneebone is fascinated by the embodied ways of knowing developed by experts in different fields and how these can inform one another; you could say that he is the expert on experts. With much criticism recently fired towards experts involved in the government decision-making process regarding COVID-19, he shows why experts are necessary and why sharing our expertise with each other can only lead to more progression in every field, even when the particular fields seem to have an absolutely nothing in common with one another.

Kneebone talks about the importance of expertise, the journey it involves, and why a plasterer can have just as much of it as a fighter pilot, and he uses his own eclectic range of experiences – from trauma surgeon to GP, and from amateur pilot to harpsichord maker – to reflect on other experts he has met along his path in life, be they musicians, tailors, builders, or taxidermists. The essence of the book is that we often view experts as a breed apart but we are all on a journey to becoming an expert in our respective departments or fields. There is no definitive set of objectives to achieve in order to become one as being an expert is effectively a continuum which has an indefinable beginning and end, and due to the fact that no-one ever arrives at the stage where they are a fully-fledged expert, we can ALWAYS keep becoming better. In our post-Brexit, pandemic-gripped world where some have claimed there are ‘too many experts’, Professor Kneebone draws out important messages, using new research and insights along the way.

In some ways, I feel that the title of the book doesn't do justice to the fascinating exploration that lingers inside these pages. It's a surprisingly enjoyable, engrossing and accessible read in which complex ideas are expressed in a simple fashion and the anecdotes and examples given to illustrate the points are interesting. This is an original and eminently unique read which I found intriguing from start to finish and the fact that it has been written in order to ensure even a layperson can comprehend the ideas explored makes it even better. I hope people don't simply look at the cover and title and deem it too dry-looking to pick up because that isn't the case at all. Overall, this is a thoroughly engaging romp through the quagmire that can often be experts and expertise, navigating the rough terrain of the past few years whereby the title of expert, in some cases, has become synonymous with a person who peddles pseudo-science. Here, the expert on experts reconstitutes the trust once felt for them and why it is so crucial. Many thanks to Viking for an ARC.

‘Experts’ is a highly entertaining book. There are two key aspects to this book: the experts themselves and the general knowledge on what it takes to become an expert.

The stories about the individual experts are fascinating.. I was both intrigued and inspired by the insight into these extraordinary and passionate people.

The general knowledge was impressive. It was interwoven throughout the book.

The combination of information and personal stories makes ‘Experts’ a good read.