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Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery | 
| Author: Richard Hollingham
Creator: Michael Mosley
Publisher: BBC Books
Category: Book
List Price: £18.99
Buy New: £11.39
You Save: £7.60 (40%)
New (19) Used (4) from £10.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 5168
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 1846075033
EAN: 9781846075032
ASIN: 1846075033
Publication Date: August 7, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
If you only read one book in your lifetime make it this one.... December 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I saw some of the TV series on which this book is based and found it utterly fascinating so I just had to buy the book to find out the bits I missed on TV. The title makes it sound very gruesome and whilst some of the techniques covered live up to this title the way it is written makes it very enjoyable and entertaining to read without making you feel in the least bit queazy. It really highlights the way the surgical techniques we have today have been founded on the ideas of pioneers who came up with inventions ranging from the astounding to the downright bizarre and morally questionable. Throughout the book I was constantly asking myself "how on earth did they come up with that?!" These really are people who were prepared to try absolutely anything in the pursuit of medical advancement. There are also some excellent pictures and photos which illustrate the techniques discussed. This is really the most interesting book I have ever read and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Readable and Engaging August 25, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Blood and Guts is a pithy and readable history of surgery that does not hold back on the successes and the botches.
One of the most amusing anecdotes became known as the "night of the pigs" and takes place in the National Heart Hospital in London in 1969.
Surgeon Donald Longmore waits for a delivery of pigs. He plans to graft a pig's heart and lungs into a patient to keep him alive. One pig has other ideas and makes its escape onto Wimpole Street, pursued by gowned, capped, masked and booted theatre staff.
The pig, now secured by the expert team, is taken to the mortuary to be put to sleep, but the anaesthetist assigned to the task is Jewish. Another anaesthetist is found, but there is another problem: the patient is also Jewish and unconscious so unable to take any decisions for himself. Mr. Longmore calls a rabbi who in fits of laughter gives the go ahead for a genuine attempt to save the patient's life. Unfortunately, the operation fails in its final stages owing to an unforeseen reaction of pig heart to an injection of calcium.
Medical mavericks seem to have been responsible for much surgical progress, so it's surprising to read how often innovations we now take for granted were at first rejected by established leaders and institutions. Plus ca change!
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