When John Hunter was born in 1728, medicine and surgery was still in a dark age riven with ancient beliefs, an unwillingness to accept proven discoveries and an even great unwillingness to change.
John Hunter, by sheer hard work and dedication opened up the human body as no surgeon or anatomist had done for over 150 years, and people looked, listened and many learned. His influence on his students would see great names in surgery such as John Abernethy and Percival Pott, who, in their own right, took Hunter's teaching and practice into the operating theatres of Britain. This was the beginning of a new dawn for surgery, anatomy and science.
Wendy Moore has created a masterpiece for historians of medicine and science, as this book has been sourced from many primary sources, which she has brought together to provide a readable, if somewhat gruesome account of John Hunter, who by all accounts has to be the British Vesalius.
Although books on the history of medicine come and go, Knife Man will be up there with the front runners. This book will be an excellent and informative read for students of the history of medicine, doctors, surgeons and those with a fascination for the medical past. It is very reasonably priced and deserves every one of the five stars I have awarded.