MP3 Audio Sample
Short Synopsis
In Blood and Guts, veteran science writer Richard Hollingham weaves a compelling narrative from the key moments in surgical history.
Full Synopsis
Today, astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making limb transplants, face transplants, and a host of other previously undreamed-of operations possible. But getting here has not been a simple story of medical progress. In Blood and Guts, veteran science writer Richard Hollingham weaves a compelling narrative from the key moments in surgical history. We have a ringside seat in the operating theater of University College Hospital in London as world-renowned Victorian surgeon Robert Liston performs a remarkable amputation in thirty seconds—from first cut to final stitch. Innovations such as Joseph Lister's antiseptic technique, the first open-heart surgery, and Walter Freeman's lobotomy operations, among other breakthroughs, are brought to life in vivid detail. This is popular science writing at its best.
Author Richard Hollingham
Narrated by Liam Gerrard
Publication date May 28, 2019
Running time 9 hrs
Available Formats
audio download