
Under the Knife
A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations
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Narrated by:
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Rich Keeble
About this listen
Surgeon Arnold van de Laar uses his own experience and expertise to tell this engrossing history of surgery through 28 famous operations - from Louis XIV and Einstein to JFK and Houdini.
From the story of the desperate man from 17th-century Amsterdam who grimly cut a stone out of his own bladder to Bob Marley's deadly toe, Under the Knife offers a wealth of fascinating and unforgettable insights into medicine and history via the operating room.
What happens during an operation? How does the human body respond to being attacked by a knife, a bacterium, a cancer cell, or a bullet? And, as medical advances continuously push the boundaries of what medicine can cure, what are the limits of surgery?
With stories spanning the dark centuries of bloodletting and amputations without anaesthetic through today's sterile, high-tech operating rooms, Under the Knife is both a rich cultural history, and a modern anatomy class for us all.
©2018 2018 text copyright Arnold van de Laar; 2018 translation copyright Andy Brown (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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Great Listen
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Each vignette gives an insight into a new theory, or development, or happy accident, that advanced the theory and/or practice of medical care throughout history. Starting with BCE and moving all the way through to organ transplantation, there is well-narrated event after event, and term after term.
The two narrators are quite different, and each is well equipped to tell his side of the story.
The book is evidently written in Dutch, and the narrators are British, so some of the terms are pronounced differently from our US pronunciation. At first it was slightly jarring but soon settled into a comfortable rhythm. Many Americans don’t realize that although we in the US call both doctors and surgeons ‘Doctor,’ in the UK docs are called ‘Doctor,’ and surgeons are addressed as simply,
‘Mister.’ Sounds odd to us, I know.
Another slight difference is that as I understand it, nurses are nurses, but the frequently used,
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If you enjoy history, medicine, or especially the combo: This is THE book for you!
** And remember: NO antibiotics, NO anesthesia ( not even local!), NO electricity, which meant sunlight or candle power, NO ambient
heating/cooling in any room, NO sterility— in fact mist of this history there was not even soap involved!! **
Superb-Oh!!
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Just What The Doctor Ordered
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Aren't You Glad You Didn't Live THEN?
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candy for hx med buffs
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Great new information I wasn't aware of
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Under The Knife is a non-fiction book by surgeon Arnold Van De Laar, my version was translated from Dutch and narrated by a non-Dutch/non-surgeon named Rich Keeble. Under The Knife, cranks out some famous accounts of surgery and is ‘the history of surgery in 28 remarkable operations’. Dirty origins from “Lithotomy Surgeons” to the surgical mavens using precision via technological advancements we are fortunate to have today. The book is a true voyage through human body, opening up wide the ways (in the surgical theatre) things go terribly awry and what genius is called/paged/texted to solve issue or end it.
If gore is not for you, pus or sayings in Latin are vulgar things, then do not read this. Nasty, nefarious and pus-filled adventures are told in a ‘macabre’ trudge down the path and the read feels like getting the wind knocked out of you. This review is my latest in surgical streak and truth shines rather brightly in the gutter. Starts out with a frustrated Dutch man (who performs surgery on himself in 1651). Author is a surgeon in Amsterdam which means most deliciously that he imparts the details in a raw, clinical and straight forward manner on a most intelligent and fluid conveyance using tools like words, phrases in Latin, photos and intonation in non-monosyllabic way lacking idiocrasy.
Organization is commendable, and first case is our President (John F. Kennedy) another is George Washington (as we know, they both die) yet the details give us a clear surgical picture of what happened before clinical death. Cases from bullet wounds to fractures and gangrene, to obesity and anal fistula’s; the gamete of common surgeries is thoroughly covered. Under the Knife (is nakedly honest) imparts “technicolor” surgical lessons and most will find the surgeons descriptiveness unappealing and garish yet it’s told with clinical accuracy and becomes a colorful artistic masterpiece---as if Van Gogh was involved. Buy it, brilliant read, listen and visuals.
Why did a surgeon need a fast horse?
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Fascinating walk through history & surgery
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A Great Listening Experience
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If you like surgery on TV
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