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The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
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About This Book
Lindsey Fitzharris, the award-winning author of The Butchering Art, presents the compelling, true story of a visionary surgeon who rebuilt the faces of the First World War's injured heroes, and in the process ushered in the modern era of plastic surgery.From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: humankind'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. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to reconstructing the burned and broken faces of the injured soldiers under his care.Gillies, 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 a 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.
Reviews
"Sometimes distressing, sometimes thrilling, The Facemaker had me gripped; it is elegantly written and endlessly fascinating."
"Through tangential but substantive anecdotes related to the plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, Fitzharris constructs a variegated and tender account of the First World War, its brutality and its narratives of human redemption ..."
"There's an inherent danger of sensationalism in this subject of gruesome facial injuries, but Fitzharris is a pretty straightforward writer, relying on letters, reports and newspaper accounts to give vivid immediacy to the patients' ordeals ..."
"In her engrossing book, Lindsey Fitzharris not only tells the story of Gillies's achievements, she immerses us in the world of the men he helped ..."
"Meticulously researched and compulsively readable, this exceptional history showcases how compassion and innovation can help mitigate the terrible wounds of war."
"A fascinating medical history ..."
"Fitzharris vividly details mutilated faces and the savagery, suffering, and slaughter of war."
"Fitzharris depicts her hero as irrepressibly dedicated and unfailingly likable."
"The book gives an especially detailed portrait of the hospital facility that Gilles established in order to do his work ..."
"Buy this book (locally) and you too will have a book on your hands."
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