Archibald Joseph Cronin (1896–1981) was born in Scotland, graduated from the University of Glasgow, and worked as a doctor in South Wales and London. But his true calling was literature, to which he devoted himself after the resounding success of his first novel, Castle Brodie. Among other books by A. Cronin, the most famous are “The Stars Look Down”, “The Citadel”, “Young Years”, “Shannon’s Path”, “Keys of the Kingdom”, “Monument to the Crusader”, “Three Loves”. The most striking novels are among the bestsellers, selling in huge numbers around the world; More than 30 film adaptations have been created based on Cronin’s works. But it cannot be said that, having left medical practice, Archibald Cronin said goodbye to medicine forever. This profession, the problems associated with it and the challenges of the time have always awakened the creative imagination of the writer, so the main character of his books was often a talented and purposeful doctor - someone to whom the author could convey his ideas, views, and quests. Obsessed with his favorite work, Duncan Stirling, the hero of the story “ Brilliant years." Despite his crippled hand, he is determined to achieve world fame in the medical field. Harvey Leith (Gran Canaria) also dreams of this. A gifted doctor and researcher, confident that his discovery will revolutionize science, he suffers a cruel failure and goes to the Canary Islands to start everything from scratch... The short story “The Local Doctor” tells the romantic and exciting story of the doctor Robert Murray and the nurse Mary, arrived on a remote Caribbean island on the eve of ominous events...For the first time in Russian!