This little book is an excellent personal history of a renowned soldier and surgeon of the 19th Century and a wonderful commentary on the times in which he lived and worked. It is written by Raymond Hurt, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon in London. It is full of insightful commentary on the surgery pertaining to George Guthrie and his times.
This book, in essence, is in two parts. The first is a description of Guthrie's life and work, especially his remarkable surgery in the Peninsular Wars of the 19th Century. His life and times have been researched in a meticulous fashion by the author. George Guthrie clearly was remarkable. During the years of the Peninsular Campaign, he operated almost constantly, treating almost 20,000 wounds. He served at the Battle of Waterloo, performing perhaps the first successful amputation of the hip recorded. Following his wartime experience he wrote a number of textbooks, lectured widely, and gave a Hunterian Lecture which is detailed in the second part of this beautifully written little book.
The second part of the book details many of Guthrie's lectures and writings. Following his wartime experiences, he specialised in ophthalmic surgery and wrote three textbooks on eye surgery. He progressed to become President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England on three separate occasions. He enabled the end of “body snatching” by the Anatomy Act of 1832. This remarkable man was multi-lingual in Spanish, French and Portuguese and was also an outstanding orator. He was offered a Knighthood after the Battle of Waterloo, which he declined, although he did later accept the honour. He died in 1856, age 71 years, from cardiac failure.
This book will be of interest to many readers. It is beautifully researched and is a wonderful description and commentary of the life of an outstanding surgeon and soldier and his times. The book will be of interest to serious students of medical history, students of military history, and will also be of interest to doctors of all grades and specialties. I would recommend it also as browsing material for undergraduate students.
Surgeons in particular will enjoy reading the case studies in the last one-third of the book, including the survival of the patient who had the successful removal of a darning needle from his heart. In addition to this remarkable man's experience of trauma, he also treated 1084 cases of primary syphilis in the York Hospital at Chelsea. His trial of mercury treatment confirmed that mercury was a dangerous and useless treatment for syphilis!!
This book is a remarkable read. I can recommend it both for serious study and for the reader who wishes to dip in and out of the work of an outstanding soldier and surgeon of the 19th Century.