Book Review

摘要

The surgeons of the heroic age of surgery, especially before the introduction and acceptance of anaesthesia, have always been figures of awe, inspiring both admiration of their strength and resolve but also distaste at their ability to cut in the cause of healing. Their bloody work obscures both their personalities and their humanity. As Professor Payne rightly avers, these men have too much been assumed to have been brutalised by their bloody profession. Like them, she cuts boldly through unhelpful myth, oft-told stories and easy assumptions to produce an insightful and rich biography of a notable but oddly neglected surgeon.