Under the Knife

A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations

By: Arnold van de Laar, Andy Brown - translator

Narrated by: Rich Keeble

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 Limited

Great Listen

Very interesting from start to finish. The timeline of surgical developments was not what I would have expected. Some procedures developed much earlier than I thought. I can’t imagine what surgery was like for the patient when one of the doctor’s greatest talents was speed!

Superb-Oh!!

I love history, and having been involved in medical care of one type or another since the late 60’s, and a history nut besides, I LOVED this WONDERFUL book!!
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,
‘Sister,’ is used for nursing supervisors or advanced practice nurses. ( That may be an error on my part, but my explainer was rushed and we had to cut the call— sorry if wrong: my error.)
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!! **

Just What The Doctor Ordered

Nicely written and elaborated in an unexpected way, “Knife” provides an excellent slice of surgical history. Narration is spot-on.

Aren't You Glad You Didn't Live THEN?

This is a mostly gripping description of medical life before anaesthesia, modern imaging techniques, and sterile operating fields. Shoot, back then, mainstream medical practitioners didn't even believe in the importance of washing up before surgery. Joseph Lister's insistence on the presence of dangerous microbes was ridiculed by germ-deniers because germs are invisible to the naked eye. Kind of like denying the law of gravity, non?

The author presents a comprehensive layman's guide to healthcare as the medical/pharmaceutical complex of the time struggled with superstition and sheer folly en route to the establishment of modern protocols of healthcare.

Keeble's narration is pleasant and well-modulated.

candy for hx med buffs

historical stories of surgical tales of trial and error that eventually lead to lessons and improvements yielding better and safer surgical outcomes we enjoy today....thank goodness!!! well told: reader's voice fits perfectly with this subject.