The Knife Man: Blood, Body-snatching and the Birth of Modern Surgery

WINNER OF THE MEDICAL JOURNALISTS’ OPEN BOOK AWARD 2005Revered and feared in equal measure, John Hunter was the most famous surgeon of eighteenth-century London. Rich or poor, aristocrat or human freak, suffering Georgians knew that Hunter’s skills might well save their lives ­but if he failed, their corpses could end up on his dissecting table, their bones and organs destined for display in his remarkable, macabre museum. Maverick medical pioneer, adored teacher, brilliant naturalist, Hunter was a key figure of the Enlightenment who transformed surgery, advanced biological understanding and even anticipated the evolutionary theories of Darwin. He provided inspiration both for Dr Jekyll and Dr Dolittle. But the extremes to which he went to pursue his scientific mission raised question marks then as now.John Hunter’s extraordinary world comes to life in this remarkable, award-winning biography written by a wonderful new talent.