Customer Reviews

Death, Dissection and the Destitute

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This has been one of the best books I have read in grad school. Basically, it deals with the creation of the British Anatomy Act and with the criminalization of poverty. However, it's also got great info about grave robbing, murder for body-procurement, burial practices, and corpse decomposition - and it's extremely readable. Richardson explains that she began this book while reading Shelley's Frankenstein and with questions she had about the meanings of dissection and the body. This book is not about Frankenstein, but it's a must-read if you are to truly understand the society that Frankenstein was created for. It's also a must-read if you are at all interested in anatomy, poverty, or social policy dealing with anatomy and poverty.

This is a wonderful book: smart, packed with astonishing information, beautifully written and--although it's about "the Body"--100% free of po-mo blather. They don't write 'em like this anymore, which is a damned pity.

I'd like say that this book is ver intrested for me, because I write my book about tha modern anatomy, medicine and politics.