The facemaker : a visionary surgeon's battle to mend the disfigured soldiers of World War I / Lindsey Fitzharris.
"From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankind's military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. Lindsey Fitzharris's The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such and individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gilles, who dedicated himself to reconstructing the burned and broken faces of the injured soldiers under his care. Gilles, a Cambridge-educated New Zealander, became interested in the nascent field of plastic surgery after encountering the human wreckage on the front. Returning to Britain, he established one of the world's first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction. There, Gillies assembled a unique group of practitioners whose task was to rebuild what had been torn apart, to re-create what had been destroyed. At a time when losing a limb made a soldier a hero but losing a face made him a monster to society largely intolerant of disfigurement, Gillies restored not just the faces of the wounded but also their spirits. The Facemaker places Gillies's ingenious surgical innovations alongside the dramatic stories of soldiers whose lives were wrecked and repaired. The result is a vivid account of how medicine can be an art, and of what courage and imagination can accomplish in the presence of relentless horror" --
Record details
- ISBN: 9780374282301
- ISBN: 0374282307
- Physical Description: xii, 315 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Edition: First edition
- Publisher: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.
- Copyright: ©2022
Content descriptions
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-294) and index.
- Formatted Contents Note:
- Prologue: "An unlovely object" -- Ballerina's rump -- Silver ghost -- Special duty -- A strange new art -- Chamber of horrors -- Mirrorless ward -- Tin noses and steel hearts -- Miracle workers -- Boys on blue benches -- Percy -- Heroic failures -- Against all odds -- All that glitters -- Epilogue: Cutting a path.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Gillies, H. D. (Harold Delf), 1882-1960.
Plastic surgeons > Great Britain > Biography.
Surgery, Plastic > History > 20th century.
Disabled veterans > Rehabilitation > Great Britain > History > 20th century.
Disfigured persons > Treatment > Great Britain > History > 20th century.
World War, 1914-1918 > Medical care > Great Britain. - Genre:
- Biographies.
Available copies
- 28 of 29 copies available at NC Cardinal.
- 1 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 29 total copies.
Show All Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Library | BIO GIL (Text) | 37810435792931 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
| Alleghany Public Library | B GILLIES (Text) | 30664100320610 | Adult New Biography | Available | - |
| Beaufort Main | B GILLIES (Text) | 34208900150987 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
| Black Mountain Library | 617.092 FIT (Text) | 0020513291896 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| C.B. Hildebrand Public Library | B GILLIES (Text) | 33557004506549 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
| Cleveland County Main Library | B GILLIES (Text) | 22281500151968 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Cliffdale Library | B GILLIES (Text) | 31781067511020 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Columbus Library | B GILLIES (Text) | 31250200083489 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
| Fletcher Branch | 617.092 F (Text) | 33258009587036 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Franklinton Branch | B/GILLIES (Text) | 72350000111389 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
