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Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer, and History
The stories of women throughout the ages who have confronted breast cancer, from ancient times to the present. A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2003 and Winner of the Association of American Publishers Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for the History of Science "Breast cancer may very well be history's oldest malaise, known as well to the ancients as it is to us. The women who have endured it share a unique sisterhood. Queen Atossa and Dr. Jerri Nielsen―separated by era and geography, by culture, religion, politics, economics, and world view―could hardly have been more different. Born 2,500 years apart, they stand as opposite bookends on the shelf of human history. One was the most powerful woman in the ancient world, the daughter of an emperor, the mother of a god; the other is a twenty-first-century physician with a streak of adventure coursing through her veins. From the imperial throne in ancient Babylon, Atossa could not have imagined the modern world, and only in the driest pages of classical literature could Antarctica-based Jerri Nielsen even have begun to fathom the Near East five centuries before the birth of Christ. For all their differences, however, they shared a common fear that transcends time and space."―from Bathsheba's Breast In 1967, an Italian surgeon touring Amsterdam's Rijks museum stopped in front of Rembrandt's Bathsheba at Her Bath , on loan from the Louvre, and noticed an asymmetry to Bathsheba's left breast; it seemed distended, swollen near the armpit, discolored, and marked with a distinctive pitting. With a little research, the physician learned that Rembrandt's model, his mistress Hendrickje Stoffels, later died after a long illness, and he conjectured in a celebrated article for an Italian medical journal that the cause of her death was almost certainly breast cancer. A horror known to every culture in every age, breast cancer has been responsible for the deaths of 25 million women throughout history. An Egyptian physician writing 3,500 years ago concluded that there was no treatment for the disease. Later surgeons recommended excising the tumor or, in extreme cases, the entire breast. This was the treatment advocated by the court physician to sixth-century Byzantine empress Theodora, the wife of Justinian, though she chose to die in pain rather than lose her breast. Only in the past few decades has treatment advanced beyond disfiguring surgery. In Bathsheba's Breast , historian James S. Olson―who lost his left hand and forearm to cancer while writing this book―provides an absorbing and often frightening narrative history of breast cancer told through the heroic stories of women who have confronted the disease, from Theodora to Anne of Austria, Louis XIV's mother, who confronted "nun's disease" by perfecting the art of dying well, to Dr. Jerri Nielson, who was dramatically evacuated from the South Pole in 1999 after performing a biopsy on her own breast and self-administering chemotherapy. Olson explores every facet of the medicine's evolving understanding of its pathology and treatment options; its cultural significance; the political and economic logic that has dictated the terms of a war on a "woman's disease"; and the rise of patient activism. Olson concludes that, although it has not yet been conquered, breast cancer is no longer the story of individual women struggling alone against a mysterious and deadly foe.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionHealth
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 1, 2015
First off, I might actually give this site a try again. Stay tuned to see if this is real or another false alarm. But I will begin by recommending this book I just finished.
Fantastic! I found it completely riveting. I'm totally aware that I have more interest in this particular topic than many people, but I think anyone would find it interesting. It's very readable and reasonably quick paced, while covering a lot of scientific ground. Each scientific advance is accompanied by an anecdotal story or two to humanize it and contextual details of the time periods.
CW: I would recommend this book to non-cancer patients and people, like me, who are a ways out from treatment. I would not recommend this book to anyone closer to the trauma of initial diagnosis and treatment-- it's not easy to read in parts. The history of breast cancer treatment is not for the faint of heart. Added to that that the women used as examples almost all die... well it's real. That's cancer history. But it isn't always a pleasant read in that regard. I hope this doesn't discourage people from checking it out though, it really was interesting and a good read.
Fantastic! I found it completely riveting. I'm totally aware that I have more interest in this particular topic than many people, but I think anyone would find it interesting. It's very readable and reasonably quick paced, while covering a lot of scientific ground. Each scientific advance is accompanied by an anecdotal story or two to humanize it and contextual details of the time periods.
CW: I would recommend this book to non-cancer patients and people, like me, who are a ways out from treatment. I would not recommend this book to anyone closer to the trauma of initial diagnosis and treatment-- it's not easy to read in parts. The history of breast cancer treatment is not for the faint of heart. Added to that that the women used as examples almost all die... well it's real. That's cancer history. But it isn't always a pleasant read in that regard. I hope this doesn't discourage people from checking it out though, it really was interesting and a good read.
February 19, 2019
This book was exceptional. Provides the history of breast cancer and the barbaric treatment that lasted well in the 1960's and 1980's. I do breast cancer clinical trials and found this book to be maddening and satisfying all at once. This book was recommended to me by a Radiation Oncologist. I did let him know I really liked the book and the history of breast cancer from beginning of time and her unfortunate status it had on women in history.
February 5, 2021
Recommended to trainees on a Breast Cancer Advocacy course I went on with the breast cancer charity Europa Donna (do look them up if you are based in Europe), I took note of it thinking, “it’s a book, of course I’ll read it!”
I’m so glad I did. Named after the Rembrandt painting where the titular biblical beauty is at her ablutions, and a surgeon looking at the painting realised the model likely had breast cancer. Turns out Rembrandt’s muse Hendrickje Stoffels later died of a long illness. Breast cancer was first identified in ancient Egypt, and as the book says the history of breast cancer IS the history of cancer, as BC was really the only visible one, for a long time before PMs.
The book is a lovingly written and researched history of the disease, covering the anatomy and biology of the tumours, but more importantly the progress of treatment. Before anaesthesia women would endure super radical mastectomies including the chest wall with no pain relief, and various poultices, medicines and procedures were experimented with as all sorts of ‘healers’ tried to help. The most disturbing for me was poultice of goldenrod water (a plant) and ... wait for it ... boiled suckling puppy! Who thinks of these things?!
In the last 100 years treatment has come on apace, and this book takes us up to early 2000s in the epilogue, with the discovery of BRAC1 and 2 and ATM genes and various hormone receptive cancer types. With each new discovery, more women have more of a fighting chance, and with increased methods of diagnosis and screening, women are being diagnosed earlier.
Olson writes the good and bad, the heroes and villains of BC’s story, women who suffered and became the first advocates, incredible women who endured horrendous experimental treatments so their sisters in womanhood wouldn’t have to. He talks about the famous women who brought BC out into the open, and discusses the social and political changes that helped and hindered ie Playboy made breasts a thing belonging to men for their titillation rather than feeding apparatus for babies, but this pushed for women’s reconstruction surgery to be jump-started! Early on women had to deal with an exclusively male establishment telling them how to react to treatment, telling women over a certain age losing a breast didn’t matter as they were past being sexual beings, and young women being pressured into reconstructions that eventually disfigured them more.
As more women got into cancer treatment and advocacy became national and internationally pressuring, more has been done. Worldwide October is breast cancer awareness month! Celebrities are no longer afraid to admit they have breast cancer, and women now have choices, and a voice.
Olson takes care to put forward both sides of arguments - of which there have been many - and writes with a clarity and interest, and a clear empathy with the women. He himself has laboured under awful cancer, and so understands. He uses a lot of statistics! There’s a lot of numbers and percentages.
I recommend this book. It is an engaging and approachable read, not *too* technical, and he does repeat a little bit, but mainly in different chapters as he goes back a bit in time to follow a different aspect of the BC debate/story. Anyone interested in the history of breast surgery, medicine, cancer, women’s rights/issues/health, is an advocate wanting to understand more about the disease or a person with cancer wanting to know more about it, this is the book. I’d really like Olson to write a follow up for the last twenty year’s advances as well.
I’ve worked in Breast Care and now in Head and Neck cancer (Admin) and this has been full of valuable and useful information.
I’m so glad I did. Named after the Rembrandt painting where the titular biblical beauty is at her ablutions, and a surgeon looking at the painting realised the model likely had breast cancer. Turns out Rembrandt’s muse Hendrickje Stoffels later died of a long illness. Breast cancer was first identified in ancient Egypt, and as the book says the history of breast cancer IS the history of cancer, as BC was really the only visible one, for a long time before PMs.
The book is a lovingly written and researched history of the disease, covering the anatomy and biology of the tumours, but more importantly the progress of treatment. Before anaesthesia women would endure super radical mastectomies including the chest wall with no pain relief, and various poultices, medicines and procedures were experimented with as all sorts of ‘healers’ tried to help. The most disturbing for me was poultice of goldenrod water (a plant) and ... wait for it ... boiled suckling puppy! Who thinks of these things?!
In the last 100 years treatment has come on apace, and this book takes us up to early 2000s in the epilogue, with the discovery of BRAC1 and 2 and ATM genes and various hormone receptive cancer types. With each new discovery, more women have more of a fighting chance, and with increased methods of diagnosis and screening, women are being diagnosed earlier.
Olson writes the good and bad, the heroes and villains of BC’s story, women who suffered and became the first advocates, incredible women who endured horrendous experimental treatments so their sisters in womanhood wouldn’t have to. He talks about the famous women who brought BC out into the open, and discusses the social and political changes that helped and hindered ie Playboy made breasts a thing belonging to men for their titillation rather than feeding apparatus for babies, but this pushed for women’s reconstruction surgery to be jump-started! Early on women had to deal with an exclusively male establishment telling them how to react to treatment, telling women over a certain age losing a breast didn’t matter as they were past being sexual beings, and young women being pressured into reconstructions that eventually disfigured them more.
As more women got into cancer treatment and advocacy became national and internationally pressuring, more has been done. Worldwide October is breast cancer awareness month! Celebrities are no longer afraid to admit they have breast cancer, and women now have choices, and a voice.
Olson takes care to put forward both sides of arguments - of which there have been many - and writes with a clarity and interest, and a clear empathy with the women. He himself has laboured under awful cancer, and so understands. He uses a lot of statistics! There’s a lot of numbers and percentages.
I recommend this book. It is an engaging and approachable read, not *too* technical, and he does repeat a little bit, but mainly in different chapters as he goes back a bit in time to follow a different aspect of the BC debate/story. Anyone interested in the history of breast surgery, medicine, cancer, women’s rights/issues/health, is an advocate wanting to understand more about the disease or a person with cancer wanting to know more about it, this is the book. I’d really like Olson to write a follow up for the last twenty year’s advances as well.
I’ve worked in Breast Care and now in Head and Neck cancer (Admin) and this has been full of valuable and useful information.
June 10, 2024
“I’m here but my left arm is not. I lost the battle, but it appears as if I won the war.”
“Flip a coin. Fifty-fifty. Not much has improved since the 1890s saw the introduction of radical mastectomy.”
“South Pole, July 11, 1998: zoologist Jerri Nielsen received her first series of chemotherapy dropped from a parachute by a C-141 Starfighter over the Antarctic station. Nielsen did not waste a minute. Because the tumor was palpable under the skin, she performed a biopsy on herself, using ice cubes as local anesthetic, driving a needle into the tumor, and recovering the suspicious cells. “To do one on yourself is probably not as technically difficult as it is emotionally difficult,” said a friend. “Some doctors can’t even inject themselves.”
Yes, that’s totally insane: I remember my biopsy and the very long needle, and the people surrounding me, holding me, whispering to me, some six of them in white, holding me still, all procedure yet not a great day, no, not even a good one.
“Flip a coin. Fifty-fifty. Not much has improved since the 1890s saw the introduction of radical mastectomy.”
“South Pole, July 11, 1998: zoologist Jerri Nielsen received her first series of chemotherapy dropped from a parachute by a C-141 Starfighter over the Antarctic station. Nielsen did not waste a minute. Because the tumor was palpable under the skin, she performed a biopsy on herself, using ice cubes as local anesthetic, driving a needle into the tumor, and recovering the suspicious cells. “To do one on yourself is probably not as technically difficult as it is emotionally difficult,” said a friend. “Some doctors can’t even inject themselves.”
Yes, that’s totally insane: I remember my biopsy and the very long needle, and the people surrounding me, holding me, whispering to me, some six of them in white, holding me still, all procedure yet not a great day, no, not even a good one.
January 3, 2011
This is an important read for everyone. James Olson did an amazing amount of research and was able to clearly compile it into a detailed history of women and breast cancer. He describes the various (and often appalling) procedures that doctors have used over the centuries in trying to stop the spread of breast cancer and to cure it. It was fascinating to read the unfolding understandings, from one century to the next, of the human body and how it functions. I really appreciated all the personal accounts that Olson included, and was left in awe of the brave women throughout history who have undergone, and still do, painful methods in hopes of being cured from this terrible disease. I can only hope the medical research will gain even more understanding of how this disease can be prevented and treated.
November 16, 2013
In this book, Olson takes you on a journey through history (mostly ancient up through the 1990's) of the political view and treatment of breast cancer.
And I do mean political. Although Olson takes specific case-- Annie of Austria, Nancy Reagan, and antarctica scientist Julia Nielson to name a few--what he shows in this book is the public's attitude and depth (or lack thereof) of knowledge vis a vis breast cancer in each case.
The strength of this book is the focus on how politics, cultural trends, and gender pay a large part in how the US has funded and treated cancer. One of the most interesting threads that exemplifies this is how the book traces the rise and fall of the radical mastectomy, the Halstead procedure (where not only breast, but chest muscle and sometimes even shoulder bones were amputated).
Heralded as one of the only procedures to truly show clinical results in an era awash with quack remedies, in Europe it lost favor much earlier than in the United States once physicians realized the mutilation was unnecessary and women with lumpectomies and radiotherapy had similar 5 year survival figures.
It's quite scary to think about the thousands and thousands of women who underwent this procedure. As a breast cancer survivor who has undergone the lumpectomy myself, I am grateful to the activists mentioned in this book (including notables such as Dr. Susan Love and Rose Kushner) who were lone voices in a male-dominated medical and medical policy culture making decisions about women's bodies.
Olson doesn't spend as much time as I would have liked on the current state of cancer research, focusing just a bit on Tamoxifen and the BRCA genes without going too much into the genetic strides breast cancer researchers have gone in putting together clinical trials involving different genetic make up of tumors reacting to different chemotherapy cocktails.
And as a survivor, it is sometimes disheartening to read the statistics sprinkled throughout the book that show that not much changed in terms of mortality or disease free life expectancy for most of the 1900's.
But the book itself is readable, informative, and definitely makes one a bit irritated at how politics has influenced breast cancer treatment. I can only give a sigh of relief there are more female surgeons, oncologists, and researchers today.
And I do mean political. Although Olson takes specific case-- Annie of Austria, Nancy Reagan, and antarctica scientist Julia Nielson to name a few--what he shows in this book is the public's attitude and depth (or lack thereof) of knowledge vis a vis breast cancer in each case.
The strength of this book is the focus on how politics, cultural trends, and gender pay a large part in how the US has funded and treated cancer. One of the most interesting threads that exemplifies this is how the book traces the rise and fall of the radical mastectomy, the Halstead procedure (where not only breast, but chest muscle and sometimes even shoulder bones were amputated).
Heralded as one of the only procedures to truly show clinical results in an era awash with quack remedies, in Europe it lost favor much earlier than in the United States once physicians realized the mutilation was unnecessary and women with lumpectomies and radiotherapy had similar 5 year survival figures.
It's quite scary to think about the thousands and thousands of women who underwent this procedure. As a breast cancer survivor who has undergone the lumpectomy myself, I am grateful to the activists mentioned in this book (including notables such as Dr. Susan Love and Rose Kushner) who were lone voices in a male-dominated medical and medical policy culture making decisions about women's bodies.
Olson doesn't spend as much time as I would have liked on the current state of cancer research, focusing just a bit on Tamoxifen and the BRCA genes without going too much into the genetic strides breast cancer researchers have gone in putting together clinical trials involving different genetic make up of tumors reacting to different chemotherapy cocktails.
And as a survivor, it is sometimes disheartening to read the statistics sprinkled throughout the book that show that not much changed in terms of mortality or disease free life expectancy for most of the 1900's.
But the book itself is readable, informative, and definitely makes one a bit irritated at how politics has influenced breast cancer treatment. I can only give a sigh of relief there are more female surgeons, oncologists, and researchers today.
September 5, 2014
This book was very interesting from a historical and from a medical point of view.
Some good quotes:
Audre Lorde, an African-American lesbian poet who underwent a mastectomy in 1978, mourned the loss of her breast but considered breast reconstruction an "atrocity" rooted in a cultural obsession for women to remain sexually attractive to men. She rejected the "path of prosthesis, of silence and invisibility of (wishing) to be the same as before.
For feminist writer Kathryn Pauly Morgan, breast reconstruction constituted a setback in the movement. "Rather than aspiring to self-determination and woman-centered ideals of health or integrity, women's attractiveness is defined as attractive to men." These quotes stroke a cord with me as one who has received criticism and withering looks for choosing to remain flat and not do recon.
Shirley Temple Black: "Leave the questions of beauty and vanity aside, in a well-balanced existence, these are unhealthy virtues. Consider instead, as I do, the more fundamental virtues of enthusiasm, intellectual vigor, and the unquenchable desire to serve others until the final bell rings. With or without a breast, I plan to keep doing. Only Better."
And a quote which I wish I had seen last July. Susan Love: "Breast cancer is not an emergency. By the time, they're diagnosed most breast cancers have been around for years which means it's unlikely that anything too dramatic will happen right away."
My only complaint about the book is that he could have researched the chances of developing lymphedema a little more. Yes, the less nodes removed, the less your chances of developing it. However the removal of only one node puts you at risk. His statement makes it seem like, with sentinel node biopsy, lymphedema is now preventable. I'm hear to tell you that's wrong.
Otherwise,, great book.
Some good quotes:
Audre Lorde, an African-American lesbian poet who underwent a mastectomy in 1978, mourned the loss of her breast but considered breast reconstruction an "atrocity" rooted in a cultural obsession for women to remain sexually attractive to men. She rejected the "path of prosthesis, of silence and invisibility of (wishing) to be the same as before.
For feminist writer Kathryn Pauly Morgan, breast reconstruction constituted a setback in the movement. "Rather than aspiring to self-determination and woman-centered ideals of health or integrity, women's attractiveness is defined as attractive to men." These quotes stroke a cord with me as one who has received criticism and withering looks for choosing to remain flat and not do recon.
Shirley Temple Black: "Leave the questions of beauty and vanity aside, in a well-balanced existence, these are unhealthy virtues. Consider instead, as I do, the more fundamental virtues of enthusiasm, intellectual vigor, and the unquenchable desire to serve others until the final bell rings. With or without a breast, I plan to keep doing. Only Better."
And a quote which I wish I had seen last July. Susan Love: "Breast cancer is not an emergency. By the time, they're diagnosed most breast cancers have been around for years which means it's unlikely that anything too dramatic will happen right away."
My only complaint about the book is that he could have researched the chances of developing lymphedema a little more. Yes, the less nodes removed, the less your chances of developing it. However the removal of only one node puts you at risk. His statement makes it seem like, with sentinel node biopsy, lymphedema is now preventable. I'm hear to tell you that's wrong.
Otherwise,, great book.
February 18, 2017
I wanted to read this whole but have to admit I did not. I am not normally a queasy person but learning about the way breast cancer was treated in the past I reached a point where I could read no more.
June 22, 2010
So far it's fascinating, now that I'm past the painfully gory early-years surgical descriptions. The most interesting parts have been about the evolution of society's emphasis on large breasts (Chapter 6: The Great American Obsession). Now I'm into the chapter on how feminism has shaped the direction of breast cancer treatment in the last 30 years. Really well written book that I wouldn't have normally read if I wasn't using it for research on a writing project. I'm glad I found it.
Edited to update: I finished reading a couple days ago and haven't changed my original opinion. The blend of historical anecdotes and medical statistics gives a very clear picture of how breast cancer treatment has changed, and why. A great many of the advances have been the result of determined women bucking the male-dominated medical establishment to demand more say in their own treatment. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976, while the majority of treatment advances were taking place in other parts of the country. I now have a better understanding of the course her treatment took, and also why she didn't survive longer than the usual five years post-surgery. Our current society encourages patients to be active in their treatment, and is finally producing doctors who work with their patients instead of dictating to them. This gives me hope for the future of cancer treatment. Olson's book had a big part is showing me that there IS hope.
Edited to update: I finished reading a couple days ago and haven't changed my original opinion. The blend of historical anecdotes and medical statistics gives a very clear picture of how breast cancer treatment has changed, and why. A great many of the advances have been the result of determined women bucking the male-dominated medical establishment to demand more say in their own treatment. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976, while the majority of treatment advances were taking place in other parts of the country. I now have a better understanding of the course her treatment took, and also why she didn't survive longer than the usual five years post-surgery. Our current society encourages patients to be active in their treatment, and is finally producing doctors who work with their patients instead of dictating to them. This gives me hope for the future of cancer treatment. Olson's book had a big part is showing me that there IS hope.
January 11, 2011
A sobering and fascinating account of the history of cancer. I was especially pulled in by the various accounts of some women who struggled with breast cancer: Anne of Austria, Nabby Adams, Klara Hitler, Shirley Temple Black, Virginia Clinton, and more. The last couple of chapters I thought were very suspenseful because I wanted to see what was happening now, where had cancer research gotten us to. Everyone who has had, or who may have, any dealings with cancer should read this book. In other words, everyone.
March 30, 2011
Book club book for March- the authors daughter is in our ward and in our book club! It is really interesting so far.
It was very educational about the history of breast cancer and how breast cancer has been diagnosed for so long before x-rays and other instruments came out. The treatments used in the past (and even today) can seem so barbaric! I'm glad I live in the time I do- with the doctors and medicines we have today. After all, it seems its not a matter of if we will ever get cancer, but when.
It was very educational about the history of breast cancer and how breast cancer has been diagnosed for so long before x-rays and other instruments came out. The treatments used in the past (and even today) can seem so barbaric! I'm glad I live in the time I do- with the doctors and medicines we have today. After all, it seems its not a matter of if we will ever get cancer, but when.
September 20, 2008
This book compeletly changed my view of breast cancer and I'm so happy that I read it. I'd recommend it to anyone as an interesting read as it touches on so much of women's history and medical history in such a readable way. The things women could survive back in the day... wow. The only reason I wouldn't give this 5 stars is because there were a few chapters that I thought were a little tough to slug through (around the 1950s) but the first 3/4 of the book make up for most of that!
May 23, 2009
A descriptive history of this disease that has been identified for thousands of years. The stories of famous people who had breast cancer along with their treatments and surgeries is gripping, though a little gory. A very good book for women who are faced on every yogurt cup with this disease. Well written, descriptive, accurate.
Read
May 25, 2007Work book. I have to read about breast and other cancers right now at work. This one is okay thus far. Man, we've come a long way, baby with breast cancer treatment. Some of the treatments, even in the 60's, were barbaric.
March 25, 2007
Such an interesting (and extremely thorough) history of breast cancer, from ancient Egypt to the present discoveries of Western medicine.
January 30, 2008
Fascinating if gory. Loved it.
April 4, 2011
I hope I never get cancer.
January 11, 2011
I gave it a 4 because I'm in the medical field, and I think about it often when I think of ca.
October 19, 2014
This book was recommended soon after it was published at MD Anderson’s library where I received my treatment for breast cancer. I highly recommend. The book is both well researched and written.
October 3, 2011
Totally fascinating.
June 6, 2015
A great read! Engrossing tales in the evolution of breast cancer treatments.
Want to read
October 15, 2015Recommended by Dr Salhia
June 18, 2010
Had to read this for one of my history classes its very informative on the history of breast cancer
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews