Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I

This was really good. Highlighting the work of Harold Gillies one of the first plastic surgeons who was one of the first surgeons to look at how to reconstruct faces that had been mutilated beyond recognition this book was engaging and thought provoking especially around the time of rememberance. This book loses none of its impact from being listened to rather than physically read and I have developed an interest in this field of medical and military history so will be reading/listening to more books with this field of history.

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julesandjude's review

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dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

Fesselndes Buch über die Anfänge der plastischen Chirurgie

"Der Horror der frühen Chirurgie" erzählt die Geschichte des bahnbrechenden plastischen Chirurgen Harold Gillies, der sein Leben der Rekonstruktion der Gesichter der verletzten Soldaten widmete, die er während des Ersten Weltkriegs behandelte. Es ist ein erhellendes und teils erschütterndes Buch über die Anfänge der plastischen Chirurgie, den medizinischen Fortschritt und den Ersten Weltkrieg, erzählt durch berührende menschliche Geschichten.

Harold Gillies führte ein bemerkenswertes Leben, das die Grenzen der Chirurgie verschob und das Leben so vieler Menschen veränderte.
Er hatte eine bemerkenswerte Hingabe an seine Arbeit. Schon zu Beginn des Krieges erkannte er, wie schlecht die Wunden im Gesicht behandelt wurden und welche Folgen dies für die Soldaten hatte. Er setzte sich unermüdlich dafür ein, diesen Männern zu helfen und gründete ein spezielles Krankenhaus für Gesichtsverletzungen und deren Wiederherstellung.
Auch erkannte Gillies, dass nicht nur die Rekonstruktion an sich von Bedeutung war, sondern dass ebenso ein multidisziplinäres Team erforderlich war, um die Arbeit zum Erfolg zu führen. Er beschäftigte Chirurgen, Ärzte, Zahnärzte, Radiologen, Künstler, Bildhauer, Maskenbildner und Fotografen, die alle gemeinsam an der Rekonstruktion mitwirkten bzw. im Falle der Künstler und Fotografen die Arbeit dokumentierten. Einige dieser Kunstwerke und Fotografien sind auch heute noch erhalten.

Insgesamt war "Der Horror der frühen Chirurgie" ein aufschlussreiches Buch über einen faszinierenden Mann, auch wenn in der Erzählung der Fokus manchmal zu sehr von ihm und seinen Leistungen abdriftet. Trotzdem eine gut geschriebene Geschichte über die Brutalität des Ersten Weltkriegs, den Schaden, den er an den Körpern der Männer anrichtete und wie ein Pionier der plastischen Chirurgie lebensverändernde Arbeit leistete, indem er die Gesichter ehemaliger oder aktueller Soldaten rekonstruierte. Es ist so gut geschrieben, dass man manchmal fast vergisst, dass man ein Sachbuch liest.
Jeden, der sich für die Geschichte der Medizin interessiert, zu empfehlen.

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sarahbythebook's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

"Don't worry, sonny. You'll be alright and have as good a face as most of us before we're finished with you."

Dr. Harold Gillies would become a leader in the field of facial reconstructive surgery during its infancy under the dark clouds of World War I, and the world as a whole was better for him.

A kind and charismatic doctor, Harold Gillies would work endlessly to restore form and function to his patient's faces, recognizing the psychological impact of a destroyed face. In a very real way, the wounds soldiers received from bullets or shrapnel or civilians from fire and accidents lost their identities when they lost their most recognizable features. He also had a humility all too often lacking from those at the heads of their profession. Gillies recognized when his own knowledge fell short, enlisting the aid of dentists, artists, and many other skilled men and women to bring some amount of peace and confidence to the people whom he served.

His kindness did not end after the war, as author Lindsey Fitzharris demonstrates through the words of those who knew him. Gillies regularly was struggling financially because he hated discussing it with his patients and would provide steep discounts to those who needed his help. Despite the lack of financial gain, Gillies was eventually recognized by the British government for his contributions to the war, but more importantly, he was loved and remembered fondly by those who benefited under his scalpel.

The most moving story that Fitzharris includes doesn't even take place during the war, but after. Gillies' lack of prejudice in helping a trans man medically transition is moving and discredits any theories that everyone was transphobic at the time. He stood by his patient even after he was unwillingly outed. All in all, Harold Gillies seems like a descent human being first and foremost and a brilliant plastic surgeon second.

"The science of healing stood battle with the science of destroying."

The strides that Gillies and the team he assembled made in plastic surgery was brought about from horrible necessity. The First World War was unlike anything anyone in Europe had seen before despite its history of military conflicts.

As a historian, I focused on WWI, and as a teacher, I always tried to stress the importance of this war as the first real scientific war. The world saw chemical warfare, advanced war machinery, and advances in medical sciences at such a rapid pace, it was shocking. While I had focused in the past more on the weapons created, Fitzharris highlights in The Facemaker just one category of medical advances, though there are nods to the development of early psychiatry and the amazing progress made in practices like blood transfusions.

War is a tragedy no matter how it is examined, but Fitzharris does a masterful job showing off the progress that came out of trauma and the advances made possible because of the mass casualties, specifically in facial reconstruction. I'm so glad I read this book despite the fact that I generally don't do well with medical histories. (I'm specifically thinking of The Butchering Art by the same author).

If you have any history in medical histories, war histories, or just plain good and accessible nonfiction, I could not recommend The Facemaker highly enough.

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peachani's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.25

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