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iburneddinner t1_j65np9v wrote

I'm looking for a non-fiction book to review for a European history class and I'm at a loss. The time period is 1789-1870. I am hoping for something perhaps in a more narrative style. I'm interested in women's history, childbirth practices during that time, and medical scientific advances (a book on Burke and Hare would not go amiss), dog breeding during that time maybe?

The book should be trying to make some sort of argument or present some sort of idea so I can explain whether the author made their point well.

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TammieBrowne t1_j66kqw3 wrote

Maybe The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris? It's set in the Victorian era, so towards the end of the period you asked for, and it's about surgery, Joseph Lister in particular.

Try asking in one of r/AskHistorian's weekly thread about book recommendations. Someone over there must know about the time period.

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Raineythereader t1_j6dtghf wrote

Maybe "The Ghost Map" by Steven Johnson, about cholera and public health in mid-19th-century London?

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iburneddinner t1_j6dtvgp wrote

I ordered that one yesterday!

I've picked three and I'll read them all and see which ones I'll be able to write about best. "The Ghost Map", "The Butchering Art", and "The Doctor Dissected" by Caroline McCracken-Flesher. A bit different than the other two, but I found a copy in my budget and went for it.

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