Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages

Absolutely superb book. Beautifully illustrated, well researched and accessible. A wonderful read.

This is a most unusual paperbck. It is well bound and printed on heavy, smooth paper which gives crisp print and illustrations in glowing colour, which is superior to that used in many hardbacks. This makes it a delight to handle and really enhances one's reading experience.The contents are a fascinating miscellany of explorations and illustrations exploring the concepts of the body, medicine and world view of the middle ages. It is extremely entertaining and aimed at the general reader but will also fascinate the specialist too.It does rather concentrate on the middle of the middle ages -11th to 14th centuries- and makes no attempt to impose any chronological order, but does maintain a lively, well illustrated narrative throughout. I think this would make a good Christmas present for oneself or anyone else who has the slightest interest in history.

Great book, full of interesting revelations and anecdotes, well worth a read if you have an interest in medical history. It’s no Bill Bryson though, this author likes his linguistic flair, you definitely need to have your teeth in and your brain focused, not an easy one to read amidst a hubbub of background noise! Well worth the effort however. I love that this paperback has superb quality paper and many coloured illustrations throughout, a very, ahem, *Wellcome* change from your standard paperback print quality.

Or so they say, but this is an exception, the first thing you’ll notice is how beautiful this book is packaged and the beautiful pictures within, also a ribbon page marker which is a nice touch, anyway the subject matter is certainly interesting and takes you into a world I think we would have a lot of trouble adjusting to (if we could time travel). In an era where medical science alluded humanity and superstious guess work was the extent of knowledge, be grateful for being alive today and be grateful for the NHS, it ain’t perfect but I would rather have my four humours balanced today than I would in the Medieval period.

For those who are interested in the history of medicine and medieval history in general this is a wonderful book.It is erudite and brings together a lot of abstruse information, which it does a very good job of clarifying e.g. the medieval concept of hair growth and brain function. It is written in a very easy going manner which makes it a pleasure to read. The illustrations are beautiful, well chosen and very nicely printed. I was not familiar with many of them even though I am interested in the above topics as a layperson and have seen a fair amount. Highly recommended!

Bit long winded. Wasn't quite what I expected.

This is "coffee table" book. I like to pick it up and read it as and when. The book is full of interesting information.

A fascinating study of the cultural construction of the body in the Middle Ages. I particularly appreciated that the examples used crossed Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - and demonstrated a remarkably ‘shared’ set of values. Academics may find it under-referenced .

Great book, beautiful illustrations and highly interesting content. Amazing!

The media could not be loaded. Libro molto bello e interessante ricco di fotografie a colori. Non é sicuramente un libro d'arte, come altri che vendono consigliati visionando questo volume. Simpatica la suddivisione dei capitoli nominati come le varie parti del corpo come se fosse una dissezione anatomica del Medioevo come viene appunto suggerito dal titolo stesso dell'opera e dalla sua copertina.

I saw this book reviewed in the Times of London. The subject is right up my interest alley providing a slice of medieval art, medicine, medieval life practicality.The author weaves art history, barber-surgery, monks and priests, doctors of medical philosophy, lifestyles, and encyclic remedies to create a shadow box of 1300 years of Medieval medical practice.Medical practice as the reader would recognize doesn’t exist. Death and near death was everywhere. Plagues, cholera, typhoid, and typhus were eventualities that slayed up to half the populations and to be always anticipated tomorrow or the next season. Now, consider that the circulatory system is not discovered until the 17th century. The heart till then was a spiritual, and independent organ that pumped blood into a skin sack. The internal operations of the human body, bacteria, virus, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. were of course a technical mystery.As mysterious as the biological man was, the healthy, sick, dying and injured affected the whole of society and got a lot of attention. The motto seems to be ‘Do the best we can do with what we have; life is a matter of fate' and God that will decide. Health matters were every bit as important if not more significant than today.It’s a fun read. The book itself is primo quality … thick paper, high-quality images, bound silk bookmark.The book is not available in a Kindle edition at this time and that is kind of a disappointment. The authors range of vocabulary and new words make it a perfect candidate for a Kindle book and the lookup features. It might be worth rereading the book in the Kindle format. It’s not possible to come up with a book as attractive as the first edition

No ge tenido tiempo de leerlo aún, pero según otras críticas, debe ser fascinante. La calidad del papel es buena, pero las ilustraciones para el precio que ofrece Amazon y siendo un libro de bolsillo son fantásticas.

The book is smaller than I thought it was going to be, which isn't a bad thing at all. It's nice and compact and the quality of the images are top notch. I can't wait to read it!!