The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris

4.28 AVERAGE

seolhe's profile picture

seolhe's review against another edition

4.5
emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

shakespearesgirl's review against another edition

4.0
Enjoyable, well-written and researched, I listened to the audio narration and the narrator was good but made things sound a bit dry. The book does focus more on Gillies and the development of surgical techniques rather than on the people Gillies saved. I am a little sad that the book doesn't go into Gillies' postwar work in gender affirming care, but I also understand that this is not the focus of the book.

nateatsbooks_'s review against another edition

4.0
really wish i was more of a history person so i could like this more but even so
writerwendywag's profile picture

writerwendywag's review against another edition

5.0
Nice writing and a riveting story! Man, WWI just sucked. But plastic surgery is a lot more interesting than you ever guessed!

coliepolie's review against another edition

5.0
This was beyond phenomenal; heart wrenching and not for the faint of heart- with actual pictures of soldiers with extreme facial disfigurements. Absolutely incredible to think of these selfless pioneers in healing medical advancement while the world was busy finding new ways to maim and kill.

dorkabunny's review against another edition

4.0
So interesting to read about the origins of techniques I use on a regular basis

tombaker04's review against another edition

4.5
challenging hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

hannahjbear's review against another edition

4.5
challenging informative inspiring medium-paced
An incredible true story 
cosmokiwi's profile picture

cosmokiwi's review

5.0
informative medium-paced

stacyroth's review against another edition

5.0
In The Facemaker, Lindsey Fitzharris recounts the story of how plastic surgeon Harold Gillies dedicated himself to reconstructing the faces of those injured in World War I. The audiobook was narrated by Daniel Gillies, the great-great-nephew of Harold. He did a fantastic job with the audiobook, and the fact that they are related makes it that much more special. I was absolutely fascinated to learn how much the medical field advanced due to the work of Gillies and others over those few years. This book was both informative and highly readable. I recommend checking it out!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.