Product Description
Spare Parts
Author: Paul Craddock
Format: Paperback
An Unexpected History of Transplants
'Compelling' — Christopher Hart, The Sunday Times
'A fascinating book' — Daily Mail
We think of transplant surgery as one of the medical wonders of the modern world -- but it's a lot older than you think. As ancient as the pyramids, its history is even more surprising. In Spare Parts, cultural historian Paul Craddock takes us on a fascinating journey and unearths incredible untold stories, from Indian surgeons regrafting lost noses in the sixth century BC, to the seventeenth century architect who helped pioneer blood transfusions, to the French seamstress whose needlework paved the way for kidney transplants in the early 1900s.
Expertly weaving together philosophy, science and cultural history, Spare Parts explores how transplant surgery has constantly tested the boundaries between human, animal and machine. It shows us that the history -- and future -- of transplant surgery is tied up with questions not only about who we are, but also what we are, and what we might become.
'By turns delightful and disturbing . . . A thoroughly engrossing read that I couldn't put down' LINDSEY FITZHARRIS, author of The Facemaker and The Butchering Art
'Spare Parts is a fascinating read filled with adventure, delight and surprise' RAHUL JANDIAL, surgeon and author of Life on a Knife's Edge
'This is a joyful romp through a fascinating slice of medical history' — WENDY MOORE, author of The Knife Man
About the Author
Paul Craddock is Honorary Senior Research Associate in the Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences at UCL Medical School in London. His PhD explored how transplants have for centuries invited reflection on human identity, a subject on which he has also lectured internationally. Spare Parts, which won a Special Commendation from the Royal Society of Literature, is his first book.
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