The Butchering Art
Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
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The Butchering Art
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Narrated by:
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Ralph Lister
About this listen
The gripping story of how Joseph Lister's antiseptic method changed medicine forever
In The Butchering Art, the historian Lindsey Fitzharris reveals the shocking world of 19th-century surgery on the eve of profound transformation. She conjures up early operating theaters - no place for the squeamish - and surgeons, working before anesthesia, who were lauded for their speed and brute strength. These medical pioneers knew that the aftermath of surgery was often more dangerous than their patients' afflictions, and they were baffled by the persistent infections that kept mortality rates stubbornly high. At a time when surgery couldn't have been more hazardous, an unlikely figure stepped forward: a young, melancholy Quaker surgeon named Joseph Lister, who would solve the deadly riddle and change the course of history.
Fitzharris dramatically recounts Lister's discoveries in gripping detail, culminating in his audacious claim that germs were the source of all infection - and could be countered by antiseptics. Focusing on the tumultuous period from 1850 to 1875, she introduces us to Lister and his contemporaries - some of them brilliant, some outright criminal - and takes us through the grimy medical schools and dreary hospitals where they learned their art, the deadhouses where they studied anatomy, and the graveyards they occasionally ransacked for cadavers.
Eerie and illuminating, The Butchering Art celebrates the triumph of a visionary surgeon whose quest to unite science and medicine delivered us into the modern world.
©2017 Lindsey Fitzharris (P)2017 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Editors Select, October 2017
I fear that I might be gaining a reputation around here as the editor most likely to geek out over weird medical history books. But if all the books I listen to are as fascinating as this one, I think I might be okay with that. Sparing no gory detail, Lindsey Fitzharris chronicles the history of surgery in the 19th century - which, at the time, was viewed as a last resort, as it often resulted in infection and even death. That is, until a surgeon named Joseph Lister came along with a discovery that paved the way for the modern, safe surgery we have today. If you're looking for a great nonfiction book to send chills down your spine this October, give this one a try. Ralph Lister sets the perfect dramatic tone for this story - and (fun fact) happens to count Joseph Lister among his ancestors! —Sam, Audible Editor
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In The Knife Man, Wendy Moore unveils John Hunter's murky and macabre world - a world characterized by public hangings, secret expeditions to dank churchyards, and gruesome human dissections in pungent attic rooms. This is a fascinating portrait of a remarkable pioneer and his determined struggle to haul surgery out of the realms of meaningless superstitious ritual and into the dawn of modern medicine.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant
- By Bird on 12-02-15
By: Wendy Moore
-
Bellevue
- Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
- By: David Oshinsky
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 992
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 987
David Oshinsky, whose last book, Polio: An American Story, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, chronicles the history of America's oldest hospital and in so doing also charts the rise of New York to the nation's preeminent city, the path of American medicine from butchery and quackery to a professional and scientific endeavor, and the growth of a civic institution.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 12-14-16
By: David Oshinsky
-
The Remedy
- Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis
- By: Thomas Goetz
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 584
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 509
In 1875, tuberculosis was the deadliest disease in the world, accountable for a third of all deaths. A diagnosis of TB - often called consumption - was a death sentence. Then, in a triumph of medical science, a German doctor named Robert Koch deployed an unprecedented scientific rigor to discover the bacteria that caused TB. Koch soon embarked on a remedy - a remedy that would be his undoing. When Koch announced his cure for consumption, Arthur Conan Doyle, then a small-town doctor in England and sometime writer, went to Berlin to cover the event.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
thought-provoking
- By Jean on 07-06-14
By: Thomas Goetz
-
The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth
- And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Morris
- Narrated by: Thomas Morris, Ruper Farley
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 628
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 543
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 540
A puzzling series of dental explosions beginning in the 19th century is just one of many strange tales that have long lain undiscovered in the pages of old medical journals. Award-winning medical historian Thomas Morris delivers one of the most remarkable, cringe-inducing collections of stories ever assembled.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Boring Toilet Humor
- By Nemo on 01-30-20
By: Thomas Morris
-
The Great Influenza
- The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,855
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,370
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,354
In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book but very disturbing...
- By Tim on 01-15-09
By: John M. Barry
-
King of Hearts
- The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery
- By: G. Wayne Miller
- Narrated by: Patrick Cullen
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
G. Wayne Miller has dramatically and meticulously reconstructed an amazing true story: how a group of renegade Minnesota surgeons, led by Dr. Walt Lillehei, made medical history by becoming the first doctors to operate deep inside the human heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved every minute
- By Brian on 02-05-08
By: G. Wayne Miller
-
The Great War and the Birth of Modern Medicine
- A History
- By: Thomas Helling MD
- Narrated by: Mack Sanderson
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
The Great War of 1914-1918 burst on the European scene with a brutality to mankind not yet witnessed by the civilized world. Modern warfare was no longer the stuff of chivalry and honor; it was a mutilative, deadly, and humbling exercise to wipe out the very presence of humanity. Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of maimed, beaten, and bleeding men surged into aid stations and hospitals with injuries unimaginable in their scope and destruction. Doctors scrambled to find some way to salvage not only life but limb.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting but weirdly sexist?
- By J-Murphy on 07-19-22
-
The Demon Under The Microscope
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,490
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,544
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,542
The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. This incredible discovery was sulfa, the first antibiotic medication. In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of the drug that shaped modern medicine.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book!!!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 05-21-08
By: Thomas Hager
-
Asleep
- The Forgotten Epidemic That Became Medicine’s Greatest Mystery
- By: Molly Caldwell Crosby
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 393
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 353
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 356
In 1918, a world war raged, and a lethal strain of influenza circled the globe. In the midst of all this death, a bizarre disease appeared in Europe. Eventually known as encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness, it spread worldwide, leaving millions dead or locked in institutions. Then, in 1927, it disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. Asleep, set in 1920s and '30s New York, follows a group of neurologists through hospitals and asylums as they try to solve this epidemic and treat its victims - who learned the worst fate was not dying of it, but surviving it.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Scary, and still unsolved, medical mystery
- By joyce on 12-14-14
-
The True History of the Elephant Man
- The Definitive Account of the Tragic and Extraordinary Life of Joseph Carey Merrick
- By: Michael Howell, Peter Ford
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Due to horrible physical deformities, he spent much of his life as a fairground freak. He was hounded, persecuted, and starving, until his fortune changed and he was rescued, housed, and fed by the distinguished surgeon, Frederick Treves. The subject of several books, a Broadway hit, and a film, Joseph Merrick has become part of popular mythology. Here, in this fully revised edition containing much fresh information, are the true and un-romanticized facts of his life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing man!
- By Carolyn on 02-05-15
By: Michael Howell, and others
-
Polio
- An American Story
- By: David M. Oshinsky
- Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 594
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 424
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 423
This comprehensive and gripping narrative, which received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for history, covers all the challenges, characters, and controversies in America's relentless struggle against polio. Funded by philanthropy and grassroots contributions, Salk's killed-virus vaccine (1954) and Sabin's live-virus vaccine (1961) began to eradicate this dreaded disease.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful
- By Patricia B Tripoli on 07-22-08
-
The Moth in the Iron Lung
- A Biography of Polio
- By: Forrest Maready
- Narrated by: Forrest Maready
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 500
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 440
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 438
A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease - polio - told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere. Doctors, parents, and health officials were at a loss to explain why this formerly unheard-of disease began paralyzing so many children. Why did this disease start to become such a horrible problem during the late 1800s? Why did it affect children more often than adults? Why was it originally called teething paralysis by mothers and their doctors?
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Root Cause
- By Circlekay1 Gulfport MS on 10-24-19
By: Forrest Maready
-
Flu
- The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It
- By: Gina Kolata
- Narrated by: Gina Kolata
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 488
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
Feeling feverish, tired, or achy? Listening to Gina Kolata's engrossing account of the 1918 Influenza epidemic is sure to give you the chills. A gripping work of science writing, Flu addresses the prospects for a great epidemic recurring, and considers what can be done to prevent it.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
overexcited
- By Marilyn on 07-23-03
By: Gina Kolata
-
The American Plague
- The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic That Shaped Our History
- By: Molly Caldwell Crosby
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
In 1900, the U.S. sent three doctors to Cuba to discover how yellow fever was spread. There, they launched one of history's most controversial human studies. Compelling and terrifying, The American Plague depicts the story of yellow fever and its reign in this country - and in Africa, where even today it strikes thousands every year. With "arresting tales of heroism," it is a story as much about the nature of human beings as it is about the nature of disease.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Yellow Fever in Memphis
- By Kevin P Key on 04-13-20
-
Heart
- A History
- By: Sandeep Jauhar
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 572
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 505
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 507
For centuries, the human heart seemed beyond our understanding: an inscrutable shuddering mass that was somehow the driver of emotion and the seat of the soul. As cardiologist and best-selling author Sandeep Jauhar tells in The Heart, it was only recently that we demolished age-old taboos and devised the transformative procedures that changed the way we live. Deftly alternating between historical episodes and his own work, Jauhar tells the colorful and little known story of the doctors who risked their careers and the patients who risked their lives to know and heal our most vital organ.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Insight
- By Ironcharles on 10-27-18
By: Sandeep Jauhar
-
The Heart Healers
- The Misfits, Mavericks, and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of Our Lives
- By: James Forrester MD
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
At one time heart disease was a death sentence. By the middle of the 20th century, it was killing millions, and, as with the Black Death centuries before, physicians stood helpless. Visionaries, though, had begun to make strides earlier. On September 7, 1895, Ludwig Rehn successfully sutured the heart of a living man with a knife wound to the chest for the first time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great review of the landmark achievements in Cardiology.
- By Trauma NP on 12-14-15
-
Get Well Soon
- History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
- By: Jennifer Wright
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,750
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,039
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,006
In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon 34 more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-19th-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome - a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Didn't know syphilis could be so fascinating.
- By Kindle Customer on 02-09-17
By: Jennifer Wright
-
Dr. Benjamin Rush
- The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 109
A revealing biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush - fiery signer of the Declaration of Independence, prominent physician, ardent politician, zealous social reformer, passionate humanitarian, and dedicated educator. Known primarily as America's most influential and leading physician, Rush was also among the first to call for the abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, free education and health care for the poor, slum clearance, citywide sanitation facilities, an end to child labor, and universal public education, among other causes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Great Humanitarian
- By Jean on 10-08-19
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- By: Erika Engelhaupt
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 406
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 360
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 360
Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Feels like old school Discovery channel
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By: Erika Engelhaupt
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The Facemaker
- A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
- By: Lindsey Fitzharris
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From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankind’s military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My favorite author
- By Dani on 06-07-22
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Unthinkable
- An Extraordinary Journey Through the World's Strangest Brains
- By: Helen Thomson
- Narrated by: Helen Thomson
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 236
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A prize-winning journalist with a background in neuroscience, Helen Thomson spent years tracking down people who live with the world's most extraordinary neurological disorders - like a man who tried to break his back because his legs no longer felt like his own, and another who believed that he was dead for nine years. Not content to simply read about these cases on paper, Thomson reached out to 10 people with these afflictions, and they agreed to tell her their stories.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting
- By Ruthi on 07-01-19
By: Helen Thomson
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What's Gotten into You
- The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner
- By: Dan Levitt
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story5 out of 5 stars 101
Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth’s deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you’ve got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to forge a 3-inch nail. But how did these elements combine to make us human?
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the Very Best Science Books I have Read
- By TStair on 03-20-23
By: Dan Levitt
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The Invention of Surgery
- A History of Modern Medicine: From the Renaissance to the Implant Revolution
- By: David Schneider MD
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
Written by an author with plenty of experience holding a scalpel, Dr. David Schneider's in-depth biography is an encompassing history of the practice that has leapt forward over the centuries from the dangerous guesswork of ancient Greek physicians through the world-changing implant revolution of the 20th century.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Yup, this is the one you’re looking for...
- By richard clark on 07-19-20
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The Faithful Executioner
- Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century
- By: Joel F. Harrington
- Narrated by: James Gillies
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 708
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 648
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 642
Based on the rare and until now overlooked journal of a Renaissance-era executioner, the noted historian Joel F. Harrington's The Faithful Executioner takes us deep inside the alien world and thinking of Meister Frantz Schmidt of Nuremberg, who, during 45 years as a professional executioner, personally put to death 394 individuals and tortured, flogged, or disfigured many hundreds more. But the picture that emerges of Schmidt from his personal papers is not that of a monster. Could a man who routinely practiced such cruelty also be insightful?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By James on 03-30-18
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Gory Details
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Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Feels like old school Discovery channel
- By Anonymous User on 02-15-23
By: Erika Engelhaupt
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The Facemaker
- A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
- By: Lindsey Fitzharris
- Narrated by: Daniel Gillies
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 313
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 271
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From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankind’s military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My favorite author
- By Dani on 06-07-22
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Unthinkable
- An Extraordinary Journey Through the World's Strangest Brains
- By: Helen Thomson
- Narrated by: Helen Thomson
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 236
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 233
A prize-winning journalist with a background in neuroscience, Helen Thomson spent years tracking down people who live with the world's most extraordinary neurological disorders - like a man who tried to break his back because his legs no longer felt like his own, and another who believed that he was dead for nine years. Not content to simply read about these cases on paper, Thomson reached out to 10 people with these afflictions, and they agreed to tell her their stories.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting
- By Ruthi on 07-01-19
By: Helen Thomson
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What's Gotten into You
- The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner
- By: Dan Levitt
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story5 out of 5 stars 101
Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth’s deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you’ve got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to forge a 3-inch nail. But how did these elements combine to make us human?
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the Very Best Science Books I have Read
- By TStair on 03-20-23
By: Dan Levitt
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The Invention of Surgery
- A History of Modern Medicine: From the Renaissance to the Implant Revolution
- By: David Schneider MD
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
Written by an author with plenty of experience holding a scalpel, Dr. David Schneider's in-depth biography is an encompassing history of the practice that has leapt forward over the centuries from the dangerous guesswork of ancient Greek physicians through the world-changing implant revolution of the 20th century.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Yup, this is the one you’re looking for...
- By richard clark on 07-19-20
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The Faithful Executioner
- Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century
- By: Joel F. Harrington
- Narrated by: James Gillies
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 708
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 648
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 642
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By James on 03-30-18
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Empire of the Scalpel
- The History of Surgery
- By: Ira Rutkow MD
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Despite passionate debates about health care and the media’s endless fascination with surgery, most of us have no idea how the first surgeons came to be because the story of surgery has never been fully told. Now, Empire of the Scalpel elegantly reveals surgery’s fascinating evolution from its early roots in ancient Egypt to its refinement in Europe and rise to scientific dominance in the United States.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
EXCELLENT FROM START TO FINISH.
- By Michael on 03-01-24
By: Ira Rutkow MD
-
Get Well Soon
- History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
- By: Jennifer Wright
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,750
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,039
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,006
In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon 34 more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-19th-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome - a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Didn't know syphilis could be so fascinating.
- By Kindle Customer on 02-09-17
By: Jennifer Wright
-
Gut
- The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
- By: Giulia Enders
- Narrated by: Katy Sobey
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,640
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,047
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,004
Our gut is almost as important to us as our brain, yet we know very little about how it works. Gut: The Inside Story is an entertaining, informative tour of the digestive system from the moment we raise a tasty morsel to our lips until the moment our body surrenders the remnants to the toilet bowl. No topic is too lowly for the author's wonder and admiration, from the careful choreography of breaking wind to the precise internal communication required for a cleansing vomit.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Doctors opinion
- By KevinMcVeigh on 03-02-17
By: Giulia Enders
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Dr. Mutter's Marvels
- A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
- By: Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
- Narrated by: Erik Singer
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 877
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 784
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 777
Imagine undergoing an operation without anesthesia performed by a surgeon who refuses to sterilize his tools - or even wash his hands. This was the world of medicine when Thomas Dent Mütter began his trailblazing career as a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia during the middle of the 19th century. Although he died at just 48, Mütter was an audacious medical innovator who pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed, which clashed spectacularly with the sentiments of his time.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Morbidly wonderful
- By serine on 04-08-16
-
Strange Medicine
- A Shocking History of Real Medical Practices Through the Ages
- By: Nathan Belofsky
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11
Now published in five languages, Strange Medicine casts a gimlet eye on the practice of medicine through the ages that highlights the most dubious ideas, bizarre treatments, and biggest blunders. From bad science and oafish behavior to stomach-turning procedures that hurt more than helped, Strange Medicine presents strange but true facts and an honor roll of doctors, scientists, and dreamers who inadvertently turned the clock of medicine backward.
By: Nathan Belofsky
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The Sawbones Book
- The Horrifying, Hilarious Road to Modern Medicine
- By: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Narrated by: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,863
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,684
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,672
Wondering whether eating powdered mummies might be just the thing to cure your ills? Tempted by those vintage ads suggesting you wear radioactive underpants for virility? Ever considered drilling a hole in your head to deal with those pesky headaches? Probably not. But for thousands of years, people have done things like this - and things that make radioactive underpants seem downright sensible! In their hit podcast, Sawbones, Sydnee and Justin McElroy breakdown the weird and wonderful way we got to modern healthcare. And some of the terrifying detours along the way.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Close but no cigar . . .
- By Amanda Buffkin on 12-22-18
By: Justin McElroy, and others
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Femina
- A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It
- By: Janina Ramirez
- Narrated by: Janina Ramirez
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
The Middle Ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, saints and kings; a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women. But when we dig a little deeper into the truth, we can see that the “Dark” Ages were anything but.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating look at the “silent majority”
- By Amanda on 04-04-23
By: Janina Ramirez
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Fatal Discord
- Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind
- By: Michael Massing
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 34 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 290
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 249
This deeply textured dual biography and fascinating intellectual history examines two of the greatest minds of European history - Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther - whose heated rivalry gave rise to two enduring, fundamental, and often colliding traditions of philosophical and religious thought.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent work - up until the discussion of America
- By Michele Esposito on 08-24-19
By: Michael Massing
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Tremors in the Blood
- Murder, Obsession, and the Birth of the Lie Detector
- By: Amit Katwala
- Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3
As new forms of lie detection gain momentum in the present day, Tremors in the Blood reveals the incredible truth behind the creation of the polygraph, through gripping true-crime cases featuring explosive gunfights, shocking twists, and high-stakes courtroom drama. Touching on psychology, technology, and the science of the truth, Tremors in the Blood is a vibrant, atmospheric thriller and a warning from history: beware what you believe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible Book
- By Christine on 01-04-24
By: Amit Katwala
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Endless Forms
- The Secret World of Wasps
- By: Seirian Sumner
- Narrated by: Sumner Seirian
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Everyone worries about the collapse of bee populations. But what about wasps? Deemed the gangsters of the insect world, wasps are winged assassins with formidable stings. Conduits of Biblical punishment, provokers of fear and loathing, inspiration for horror movies: wasps are perhaps the most maligned insect on our planet. But do wasps deserve this reputation? Endless Forms opens our eyes to the highly complex and diverse world of wasps.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very Interesting Content Great Narration by Author
- By Laura Badcock on 08-31-22
By: Seirian Sumner
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Arriving Today
- From Factory to Front Door - Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy
- By: Christopher Mims
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 200
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 171
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 170
We are at a tipping point in retail history. While consumers are profiting from the convenience of instant gratification, rapidly advancing technologies are transforming the way goods are transported and displacing workers in ways never before seen. In Arriving Today, Christopher Mims goes deep, far, and wide to uncover how a single product, from creation to delivery, weaves its way from a factory on the other side of the world to our doorstep.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great look at process of product arriving to our home.
- By Jacquie on 10-06-21
By: Christopher Mims
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Womb
- The Inside Story of Where We All Began
- By: Leah Hazard
- Narrated by: Leah Hazard
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 15
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 13
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 13
The size of a clenched fist and the shape of a light bulb—with no less power and potential. Every person on Earth began inside a uterus, but how much do we really understand about the womb? Bringing together medical history, scientific discoveries, and journalistic exploration, Leah Hazard embarks on a journey in search of answers about the body’s most miraculous and contentious organ.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must read
- By Hailey Creel on 06-28-23
By: Leah Hazard
What listeners say about The Butchering Art
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- PLCC
- 10-07-19
Amazing History
This is both interesting and informative. A great listen about the science and development of surgery and germ theory.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Steve
- 02-15-19
Fascinating with plenty of detail
Be prepared to hear Lister’s life story in great and gruesome detail. This book is a testament to Lister and his incredible impact on modern medicine, and it also reflects the hard work and examples set by his Quaker parents and upbringing.
Think how many lives could have been saved if only his procedures were implemented earlier . . .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-04-19
Great if you love medical history
Absolutely fascinating!! I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into (i was on a true crime kick and it came up) but I couldn't put it down.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. D. Schwaitzberg
- 12-01-18
Toils,tales troubles and triumph.
this is a biographical review on the life of Lord Lister who transformed surgery through his perseverance and insight. the things we take for granted and find so commonplace today are nicely put in perspective.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Julie Chen
- 04-05-18
Phenomenal!
Both the writing and narration were superb. I've recommended thus audiobook to everyone I know know. Ralph Lister's enthusiasm is absolutely engrossing, and his accents added depth to the figures in the story. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Curtis Roberts
- 12-30-18
Medical advancement of preventing germs.
The joy that I got learning about how Dr. Joseph Lister was beyond what I had expected to get out of listening to this book. I hope that others will find it as informative as I have.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David J. Corsi
- 12-03-17
Fascinating history of the dawn on modern surgery
Well paced, audio book narrator was perfect choice. Never bogs down. Well worth a listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Diane Haas
- 04-14-19
Loved it!
I heard the author doing an interview on The Joe Rogan podcast. I downloaded and listen to it starting that day. I really enjoyed it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nic
- 06-19-19
Awesome and scary
glad I didn’t live in Victorian times!
Would have preferred a female performance as the author is female (and is a great presenter based on podcast interviews) but overall it’s excellent.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- RueRue
- 06-06-18
Interesting medical history
Very enlightening. How far the field of medicine has evolved in the past 150 years. It's astonishing that people survived any medical procedures done before Dr. Lister's implementation of sterile operating.
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