Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery

by Richard Hollingham

Today, astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making face transplants, limb transplants and a host of other previously undreamed of operations possible. But getting here has not been a simple story of selfless men working tirelessly in the pursuit of medical advancement. Instead it's a bloodstained tale of blunders, arrogance, mishap and murder. In trying to keep us alive, surgeons have all too often killed us off, and life-saving solutions have often come from the most surprising places. Accompanying a major BBC series, "Blood and Guts" is an incredible story of stolen corpses, medical fraud, lobotomized patients - and every now and then courageous advances that have saved the lives of millions around the world. You may think twice before going under the knife.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Medicine, Science, Medical, Health, Historical

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2008

Reviews

[Melania 🍒 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5|5 🩸 2020 TBR

I’m inclined giving this 3 starts but I’m not sure exactly why. I certainly had a good time listening to this, it had lots of new information(for me) and it was well written. But, on the other side, this is just a short history, so you don’t get to spend a lot of time or get an in depth view on pretty much anything that is discussed here.
Plus there were some small things that made it a bit dated. For example the author is stubbornly referring to a transgender man as a ‘she’ and calling him Jane throughout the whole chapter.
Overall, if you’re super new to medical history (like I am), this can be a good starting point. Easy to read and informative enough, it will give you a taste for further readings.

[Fredsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the brink of some surgery that would take a few weeks of recovery time, I got all the books about doctors and surgeons that I could remove from the library. This one was the first I read, and the best of all. The harrowing tales of early medicine are strange and creepy. But early surgeons were the WILD MEN! Before anesthesia the operating rooms were part circus and part abattoir. I read about famous amputations where whole legs from thigh down were cut off in less than a minute. These guys had to be fast. They were daring, inventive and dogged. Wars were useful for providing lots of interesting work. Techniques developed, and so on.
Richard Hollingham trained as a surgeon himself until his first real task in the emergency room where he sewed up a large gash on the forehead of a drunk. He was very careful. When he finished, he found he had sewn the fingers of his glove into the wound. His career took a swerve, and I'm glad because these stories have stuck in my mind and led me to review my thoughts about being the animal known as man.

[Farrah (bookstalgic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
This was great as audio and was a very interesting short breakdown of the history of surgery. I am so thankful for all of the people that came before me that succumbed to the trials and errors of new surgical procedures. We are so lucky with what we have today!

[Serena ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know how to feel about this. I often say I would like to be multiple people, just to understand a scientific field which can take up to a lifetime to grasp. I am fascinated with the field of surgery (and mortuary science, and microbiology, and all sorts of theoretical physics, just to name a few). But trust me when I say I would never want to be a surgeon a hundred-or-so years ago. Even though the science is fascinating.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and very readable book which accompanied the excellent series on BBC4 presented by the lovely Michael Mosley. Covers everything from early brain surgery, the evolution of cardiac surgery and plastic surgery right through to modern transplant surgery.
Not for the squeamish, definitely for the curious - but you will wince!

[Banu]

http://atopia.tumblr.com/post/1472850...

[Verónica Fleitas Solich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining.
Interesting.
A trip through the most remarkable events of the surgery.
It cannot be taken as more than an accessible introduction to this discipline but I doubt that those who come to this book are looking for much more. In any case, it seems absolutely recommendable to me.

[Mary Elizabeth Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ew

[Autumngrace Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

thoroughly disgusted but also equally fascinated?? loved learning about how medicine evolved to be what we now know as modern medicine (which is continually evolving!)

[Cade · Rating 2 out of 5]

The preface clearly says that this is "a" history of surgery, not "the" history of surgery because the history of surgery is far more extensive than the scope of this short book released as a companion to a BBC miniseries. If you read this book, you will not learn a lot about the history surgery, but you will be entertained by a number of specific surgeons, surgeries, and patients selected by the author to illustrate certain trends or concepts. This book is very light reading. It was moderately entertaining, but it is not entertaining enough for a book that's only purpose is entertainment, not education.

[Beckie L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

See how surgeons experiment...during the surgery. The book will make you wonder how today's surgical procedures will be viewed 100 years from now.

[Chris von Kaenel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has succeeded in replenishing my need for fun facts. It entertainingly dives into the beginnings of surgeons, who were a far stretch from the modern surgeons we know and fear. These men butchered their way through history in shockingly creative fashions, and through their combined efforts of systemic mutilation was born surgery. It made me realize how far behind the rest of science surgery lagged. After scientists had invented an atomic bomb and the first computer, the surgery of lobotomy was invented and implemented to 100,000 plus people. After!! The venture into healing men through surgery at best was a series of fortunate bloody guesses and at worst about as helpful to the patient as a visit from Freddy Krueger would be.

I would recommend this to medical and non medical people alike. As long as you have a strong stomach and are curious about how modern medicine came to be, I would recommend this book.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not really like this all that much. I guess I was hoping for more of a linear history of surgery, one that discussed the evolution of surgery, techniques and breakthroughs. Some of that is present, but this is mostly a loose collection of stories about groundbreaking surgeries (first transplants, sex changes etc). While that could be interesting, I think the book lacks a wider context and just comes across sort of scatter-shot. Presenting the info in a non-linear way was a detriment for me.

Overall disappointing.

[Jen Ramsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at some of the surgical breakthroughs that has led us to the medical progress we currently have- the good and the bad! An interesting history, showing everything it took to improve surgeries and there's no shying away from some of the worst that it has to offer. The narrator also did a good job.

[Clare Kirwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a succinct and horribly fascinating history of some key aspects of surgery: Victorian developments in anaesthetics and disinfectants, heart surgery, replacement body parts, facial reconstruction and brain surgery. I liked the way it features particular characters - surgeons and their cases - as examples. Very gruesome - having just recently had surgery I’m very happy to have been born in 21st century!!

[Christabelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but a bit gruesome.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

The chapter on neurosurgery is crazy. The lobotomy chapter made me sick to my stomach but also widely curious since some patients actually found success after being labotomized.



All in all a good read

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifying (in so many more ways than gore), and fascinating

[Monica Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Great read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Hadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

humanity striving for knowledge always makes me cry

[Lovisa ✨️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Cosmonautbullfrog · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was a quick read. Not because it was short (about 300 pages), but because it absorbed my attention like a dry sponge does milk. It is very informative without being boring. It does not shy away from squiky or weird descriptions either. Observe:

“It wasn’t unusual for surgeons to reuse bandages and dressings already stiff with blood. For convenience, one surgeon proudly kept a drawer of ‘plasters’ passed from patient to patient over the years” P.40

“The fragment of metal is plugging the hole he has cut. The bleeding stops; the heart keeps beating. Then suddenly, like the pop of a champagne cork, the object bursts out of the hole and so does the blood.” P.115

“Up close the arm was even more disturbing, verging on grotesque. Anyone who saw his hand would see it forever, perhaps even in their nightmares… The skin was peeling; there were ulcers and the flesh was shiny. It looked like the outer layer of skin had been stripped away.” P.157-158.

“At any of these places you could see badly disfigured men, some with bandages, most with tubes of flesh hanging from their faces. They could be seen laughing, joking or chatting up the local girls. Some had only stumps for hands and needed help to drink.” P.241.

Some bits are particularly bad (like the descriptions of a lobotomy), but these get the point across good enough.

Great book, do recommend.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another reviewer is claiming that the book feels dated because "the author is stubbornly referring to a transgender man as a ‘she’ and calling him Jane throughout the whole chapter."

This is a lie.

Here's a passage from the book:

First, there were legal and social implications – how on earth would society treat her/him? Would she even be allowed to do it? <...> But Laura was determined, and she managed to persuade a doctor to prescribe testosterone tablets. <...> Finally, Laura was put in touch with Harold Gillies.
During a series of operations, carried out in the utmost secrecy, Gillies used his tube pedicle technique to build Laura a penis. <...> Thanks to the tube pedicle, Laura became Michael. Gillies had successfully performed the world's first female to male sex change operation.
<...> Michael enrolled in medical school under his new legal name and eventually qualified as a doctor. He even wrote a book, describing people who were born with the mind of one sex and the body of the other. No one reading the book guessed that he was actually describing himself.

As you can see, as soon as the author got to the sex-change operation, he started to refer to the patient as "he." Also, the man was never named Jane; his previous name was Laura. I don't know what the other reviewer is trying to achieve here. The author was entirely respectful and, later on, even sympathetic.

I initially went to post a comment on that review, but the reviewer restricts the people who are able to comment.

Don't skip this great book because someone was trying to paint it in a bad light using lies.

[Sayantan Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to imagine the journey that Surgery had to take to reach where it is today!
Being a med undergraduate,I did known some of the stories, but for most parts, it was an eye opener. The contributions by both the eminent surgeons and the ones who faced the scalpel, must be immortalised. And though the theme in question is quite horrifying, to be honest, the author still manages to make us laugh with the correct amount of humour in between. Example?
Take this following sentence-
"Compared to bullet wounds, hibernating groundhogs, crosscirculation
and porcine predicaments, heart transplantation itself is
a relative anticlimax."
Ive never seen anyone describe the "greatest miracle" in Cardiac surgery in such a manner.

[daphny drucilla delight david · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best source of trivia for people that LOVE BOTCHED SURGERY

portrays surgeons honestly: as charismatic self centered borderline sociopaths, but ALSO IS VERY AWARE OF HOW THEIR INSANE PRACTICES MADE IT SO WE CAN GET CUT OPEN AND LIVE TODAY

apparently theres a bbc show that goes alongside this book, but living in the states im having a horrible time finding it

i almost dont want to recommend this book because i want to withhold all the amazing facts for myself

[Nore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A resounding shrug -- not a bad book, plenty informative, but definitely meant to entertain rather than educate. Not exactly what I was looking for. Just watch the BBC program (which it's apparently based off of) and you'll get all the same information, only quicker.

[Sireesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shudder... very glad I wasn't born in ye olde days. We've come a long way...

[Ka · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up? I did like the book. It was a fun listen, written in an engaging style, and I learned some new things! And got more details on things I knew a little about already! Even though I rounded up, I think you've gotta be the unique kind of person who is both really interested in the subject matter, but also not already knowledgeable about it. The content is, as it says in the title, the history of surgery.

The author starts at the oldest knowledge of the human body and how it was obtained... he didn't mention Burke & Hare at all during the chapter on how the knowledge of human anatomy was obtained, which I felt was a kind of strange omission, but I suppose he thought that the story is already very well-known. While more general medical history stuff is included, like information about leeches or the 4 humors (especially as doctors in more ancient times didn't specialize as much), the book is pretty solidly focused on surgery and only includes other medical specialties when they're relevant (the discovery of anesthetics, for example, was hugely important for surgery). Which is fine, since there are lots of books about the other topics.

In general I'd say this is a good jumping-off point for further reading and research... over the course of listening to the book, I looked up several of the people the author mentioned just because I was curious about them. I don't know if the print version of the book has pictures (you would hope!) but the descriptions were pretty vivid and made me interested in seeing the horrible medical photos. The chapter on plastic surgery's origins was especially interesting in this way, as was the chapter on neurosurgery and lobotomies.

Apparently this book is a companion to some kind of BBC documentary? I'd love to watch it!

[Swords & Spectres · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main negative aspect of reviews I have seen for this book stem from people who seem incapable of reading the blurb. The story of surgery and its beginnings is a vast one, which this book does not cover in its entirety. Nor does it claim to. It clearly states 'key moments' in the blurb. So if you are complaining this is not a complete history of medicine, it really is your fault and not the author's. Admittedly, I will concede that a title of 'A Brief History of Surgery' might have been more apt.

Little disclaimer aside, this is a wonderful jaunt through the murky depths of medicine's past. Whether you want to learn how transplants first came into being, the pit-falls and benefits that come with them, or if you have a desire to learn why ice-pick lobotomies are an incredibly bad idea, or how surgery has gone from educated guess work to, pun intended, surgical precision, this is the book for you. 

For the more morbidly curious of readers out there, this does, of course, come with a plethora of tales about the first souls that underwent new procedures and the tragedies that befell them. It's an eye-opening look into how far we've come and sparks a bit of thought, at least in my mind, as to how far we may yet go, where surgery and, indeed, all of medicine is concerned.

At it's core, I feel this book is meant to spark curiosity and interest in those who do not typically look at this subject as an area they would normally spend their reading time on. And, in that, it certainly succeeds.