Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: the History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians

I do not write this lightly - "Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: the History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians" is one of the most eye-opening and phenomenal books I have ever read. It is incredibly well researched, well written and states the case of medicinal cannibalism throughout the ages with great detail and reference. There is no other book like it and I feel so fortunate to have it upon my shelf. Some may find the writing style dry, as the subject matter must be backed up with lengthy references, but it is worth reading through to get to the evidence - which is a revelation for anyone who is a lover of history. It would be a fantastic book to accompany a college class of the same subject. Drinking human blood, snorting powdered human skull, suspending a thieves' finger in a barrel of ale, birthing straps made from tanned human skin, pressing the spiced human loam of mummies into open wounds - yes, it happened and Richard Sugg has exhaustively referenced these shocking yet common cures of the past. But why? Why would someone think that drinking the blood of a freshly beheaded person would cure them of epilepsy? Richard Sugg answers that too, explaining the past's cultural belief of the spirit and body in such a way that I completely understood it. With the church forbidding any delve into the science of the body, it was only natural that even the most educated people of the day would believe all kinds of far-fetched things about our anatomy and in turn, how to treat disease and sickness. Surely, this is a book not to be missed for anyone who is a lover of history. Highlights for me include: The origin of the word "mummy". Beautiful passages from plays that haven't been seen by audiences in 400 years. Pope Innocent VIII - 16 illegitimate children *and* the bloody scene on your deathbed? Wow - go big or go home, I guess. Beheadings and the crowd gathered to fill vessels with warm spirit-brimming blood. So many things - I didn't know epilepsy was such a problem, I'm fascinated by the spirits people thought roamed the body and I had no idea that Germanic bloodlust went back so many hundreds of years. Well - I guess not just the Germans - how about *everyone's* blood lust? The entire chapter "Dirty History, Filthy Medicine" is astounding. It has also ruined any and all cinematic period pieces that I will ever watch, as I would constantly be pointing out the actor's white teeth, clean clothes, kempt hair and tidy homes. The daily living conditions documented in this book coaxed an audible reaction from me several times, but I couldn't put it down because I was so fascinated. Descriptions of the bones, feces, rubbish and dirt that scattered even the most stately manor floors completely changed my perception of the way people lived in the past. King James I - you *filthy* bastard.

This book is a must read. I love reading various books and this on is very interesting. You will not be disappointed, but you will be disappointed in knowing how people were back before our time.

Good read!

Very good read.

thank you

Author Richard Sugg undertakes in this volume to demonstrate that for the last couple of thousand years, including modern times down to about the 18th century, various parts of the human body have been used for medicinal purposes. The good news is that he succeeds. The bad news is that his telling threatens his readers with their own intellectual mummification. As I wrote in my review of Emily Cockayne's `Hubbub: Filth, Noise and Stench in England, 1600-1770,' there is something singularly off-putting about commercially published works that started life as postgraduate dissertations. What puts one off is the apparently irresistible urge of an author to include every scintilla of data collected during the research process and then flog it to an inch of its useful informative life. Although Sugg does not acknowledge any such genesis, the hallmarks are, in my opinion, unmistakable. The entire book reads like a footnote. Dense, repetitive, and intrusively speculative, the narrative time and again evidences the author's refusal to let the story tell itself. And just so there's no doubt about the research required to produce it, there follows seventy (70) pages of endnotes. Good gracious. In short, the inherent story holds great promise which the author manages to squelch. Let me give you some alternatives. If you would like to read about the history of British medicine, and medicine in general for that matter, try the several masterful survey treatments by the late, and much lamented, Dr. Roy Porter. If you're intrigued (and who isn't?) by the appallingly filthy living conditions of our forebears (a section of the book Sugg actually manages with some dexterity), give a look to Katherine Ashenburg's wonderful `The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History.' As for `Mummies,' two stars for the research, none for the, uh, dissertation.

What an amazing book. Extremely complete and well structured. What to say more about it than just stating that it is a reference in the subject. You will learn a LOT about the past of corpses medicine in europe, and the subject is dense, interesting and entertaining in some ways.

木の机が故障すれば、別の木材で修理する。それと同様に、人間の肉体に支障が生じれば、別の肉体で補おうとするのは、ある意味で論理的である。この理屈に従って、人は、他人の肉体を自己の不足への補填すなわち薬として使ってきた。そのような事実を西洋の歴史に克明に辿った労作である。死体を薬剤と称して摂ることは何か cannibalism のようで、おどろおどろしいことだが、現在の医術でほとんどの人が抵抗なく受け入れている輸血も提供者が死んでいないというだけで、原理的には同じものである。もし、cannibalism が人倫に悖ることなら、輸血も人倫に悖るのでは亡いか。人は生き延びるためとは言え、他の人を犠牲にしてもよいのかという難題に直面することになる。提供者が生きていれば許される、死んでいれば許されない、あるいは、提供者が同意すれば許される、不同意なら許されないというような論理のすり替えでは、この問題は解決しない。 臓器移植から、 人工多能性幹細胞の利用に至り、いよいよ、人類はフランケンシュタイン博士の幻想を実現させようとしている。 このとき、再び、人間は存命のためにどこまでのことが許されるのか、考え直してみる必要がある。そして、過去に存命のために、他人（死者）の肉体をどのように活用してきたかを精確に振り返ることは、そのことの評価を含めて、重要だあろう。そういう意味で、本書は現代の課題を扱ったものであり、この問題における我々の選択を考える上で、必読の書である。

This is an excellent book on medical cannibalism and offers up much on a hushed up aspect of medicine that deserves more exposure. Brilliant to see that this particular skeleton has broken the bounds of its closet. Usenea should be on the NHS its head and shoulders above other cures!!

This is a really dense read, meaning it takes me hours to get through a chapter, because I am making notes and breaking out of the book to research stuff. If you like this type of subject matter, buy this book. You will be enchanted by the grossness of it all.

I graduated medical school 40 years ago,today's medecine is completely different.We used to treat acute pulmonary edema with white bleedings (rotating garrots) then a red bleed.No ct scans.no echos.no successfull transplants,primitive ambulances one funeral home employe with a hearse and a flasher.the succion was a turkey baister.G.P.s trying to keep internal medecine,pediatricians and gynecologist from working in general hospitals.This books really put things into prospective.My mother was bleeding to death from childbirth she received strycnine.Drinking blood from decapited criminals for epilepsy and putting skull moss up your nose to stop bleeding sounds like a plan.The royal navy during napoleonic times would use a bellows to blow smoke up a drowned man's rectum to reanimate him thus the old saying "son are you blowing smoke up my ass?"Great book for old doctors.