Medieval Bodies

This is a most unusual paperbck. It is well bound and printed on heavy, smooth paper which gives crisp print and illustrations in glowing colour, which is superior to that used in many hardbacks. This makes it a delight to handle and really enhances one's reading experience. The contents are a fascinating miscellany of explorations and illustrations exploring the concepts of the body, medicine and world view of the middle ages. It is extremely entertaining and aimed at the general reader but will also fascinate the specialist too. It does rather concentrate on the middle of the middle ages -11th to 14th centuries- and makes no attempt to impose any chronological order, but does maintain a lively, well illustrated narrative throughout. I think this would make a good Christmas present for oneself or anyone else who has the slightest interest in history.

For those who are interested in the history of medicine and medieval history in general this is a wonderful book. It is erudite and brings together a lot of abstruse information, which it does a very good job of clarifying e.g. the medieval concept of hair growth and brain function. It is written in a very easy going manner which makes it a pleasure to read. The illustrations are beautiful, well chosen and very nicely printed. I was not familiar with many of them even though I am interested in the above topics as a layperson and have seen a fair amount. Highly recommended!

Absolutely superb book. Beautifully illustrated, well researched and accessible. A wonderful read.

Great book, full of interesting revelations and anecdotes, well worth a read if you have an interest in medical history. It’s no Bill Bryson though, this author likes his linguistic flair, you definitely need to have your teeth in and your brain focused, not an easy one to read amidst a hubbub of background noise! Well worth the effort however. I love that this paperback has superb quality paper and many coloured illustrations throughout, a very, ahem, *Wellcome* change from your standard paperback print quality.

Or so they say, but this is an exception, the first thing you’ll notice is how beautiful this book is packaged and the beautiful pictures within, also a ribbon page marker which is a nice touch, anyway the subject matter is certainly interesting and takes you into a world I think we would have a lot of trouble adjusting to (if we could time travel). In an era where medical science alluded humanity and superstious guess work was the extent of knowledge, be grateful for being alive today and be grateful for the NHS, it ain’t perfect but I would rather have my four humours balanced today than I would in the Medieval period.

Bit long winded. Wasn't quite what I expected.

loved this book. great detail. good general information about the period and the parts of the body. good read

Well-written and engrossing from start to finish, this is a great debut book from Jack Hartnell. I look forward to the next one!

Great book, beautiful illustrations and highly interesting content. Amazing!

Muy curioso y bien documentado, buena edición con imágenes.

Libro molto bello e interessante ricco di fotografie a colori. Non é sicuramente un libro d'arte, come altri che vendono consigliati visionando questo volume. Simpatica la suddivisione dei capitoli nominati come le varie parti del corpo come se fosse una dissezione anatomica del Medioevo come viene appunto suggerito dal titolo stesso dell'opera e dalla sua copertina.

10/10 so fun and entertaining and cool especially for a girl that loves anatomy and physiology/medieval era art n history! my special interests collab into a fantastic read and a beautiful book i love this author

The book is smaller than I thought it was going to be, which isn't a bad thing at all. It's nice and compact and the quality of the images are top notch. I can't wait to read it!!