Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles & Practice of Nineteenth-Century Surgery

I am thrilled to own this book. I am writing a Regency-era novel in which the protagonist is a surgeon. I have read numerous books on surgery published in the early 1800's, few of which provide illustrations of surgical procedures. Richard Barnett's book is a goldmine. It allows me to confirm many aspects related to 19th-century surgery: hand positions, the types of instruments used for various procedures, the positioning of limbs or the tongue or the eye, the location of tendons and the great vessels. Every single page, excepting the back matter and pages 18 and 19 of the Introduction, contains at least one illustration; most contain two or three, and a few, fifteen or more. Barnett's text addresses many of the topics I am most interested in: antiseptics, pain management in the era before truly safe anesthesia, and the history of surgical practice. There is something new to see on every page. When I first flipped to the section on the abdomen, I found a large, magnificent illustration of the mesentery and the transverse colon, both mentioned in my novel. I was delighted! This is a remarkable book and will interest anyone interested in 19th-century surgery.

Received this about a week ago. It is beautifully bound and illustrated for the price. I'm giving it as a gift so I can't say much about the content, but I feel proud to present it.

We've come a long way, baby. Never has this been made more apparent than in this completely horrifying book about surgical practices of yore.Oh, yes! Full color illustrations of everything you can imagine going wrong with the human body. And the surgical instruments!Its astounding anyone actually survived.The illustrations are incredible and the text is informative.

Book itself came in immaculate shape. Very reminiscent of old school medical texts. Amazing illustrations and very informative. Make sure the cloth side of the book doesnt get dusty, it's a little hard to wipe down. Loved it. Worth every penny and very well priced at 14 bucks.

This book is full of beautifully drawn illustrations of surgical procedures with a running thread of "chapters" retelling the history of the specialty. I appreciated the detailed art, but this is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Provocatively intriguing piece of literature. In my "heading" I mentioned for the "Healthcare Professional," however I do believe it appeals to a wider audience. The text, in conjunction with the beautiful and brilliant illustrations/pictures, really capture the Historical aspect of what could be labeled as our torrid medical past practices that helped direct and shape today's medicine.

This book is a great compilation of illustrations. Would be a fantastic purchase for anybody in your life who is in medicine. Not for the squeamish, but a fantastic history to surgery in the nineteenth century. Highly recommend - especially as a gift.

Not for the faint of heart -- terrific illustrations. Highly recommended for physicians with interest in history.. I wish text were more complete about how/why/what let to what. We really could use a great history of military medicine.

I bought this book for a friend. It was a bit expensive considering I wasn't really sure what I was buying, but when it arrived I was completely blown away. The pastel colours are absolutely beautiful, the binding is immaculate. This book is so satisfying to hold; handing it over as a gift was a complete joy.Initially I bought this book for my mate because I like to try and freak him out with gifts. I don't think I've ever seen him wince in the way that he did flicking through the images in this. It's totally incredible. Definitely worth a punt if you need a gift for your weird mate who already has everything.

Amazingly informative book with plenty of interesting depictions of earlier medical procedures. Great for the history enthusiast, or anyone interested in how surgical procedures have advanced.I bought this for my partners birthday as he works in the NHS and loves all things medical, historical, and anatomical.

Hard to do justice in a review to the quality of the printing. I can't remember having seen another book which has clearly had so much effort put in to getting the images and text absolutely perfect, apart from the sister book, "The Sick Rose" to which these comments apply equally.Wordery dispatched it promptly, as always, and their description undersold it somewhat as it's indistinguishable from new.

I came across a hard back copy of this book whilst visiting the city museum shop. I fhave lt I would not dip in and out of it enough to justify the price so opts for an ebook version. That said, this is a very well illustrate book and ideal for ant medical stud nuts out there. I recommend this book.

I have been eyeing up this book for aaaaages. And I finally bought it under the guise of research for a job I was doing. It’s a wonderful book.