Vital Organs

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What to expect

The remarkable stories of the world's most famous body parts.
Louis XIV's rear end inspired the British National Anthem.
Queen Victoria's armpit led the development of antiseptics.
Robert Jenkin's ear started a war.


All too often, historical figures feel distant and abstract; more myth and legend than real flesh and blood. These stories of bodies and its parts remind us that history's most-loved, and most-hated, were real breathing creatures who inhabited organs and limbs just like us - until they're cut off that is.

Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge investigates over 40 cases of how we've used, abused, dug up, displayed, experimented on, and worshipped body parts, including why Percy Shelley's heart refused to burn; how Yao Niang's toes started a 1000 year long ritual; why a giant's bones are making us rethink medical ethics; and the strange case of Hitler's right testicle.

Critics Review

...a bracing adventure, and one where our ancestors are not reduced to characters of myth and legend, but real people of flesh and blood. It is through this most intimate dissection that the past is brought so vividly to life.
The Telegraph
It's an incisive book (pun intended) that will leave you with a newfound appreciation of the vessel that carries you through life
Irish Independent

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