Christopher Ondaatje
The Time of the Bodysnatchers
The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830s London
By Sarah Wise
Jonathan Cape 347pp £17.99
DURING THE EARLY 1830s there were some extraordinarily gruesome sides to life in London - a city whose population had, since the turn of the century, grown by one-third to over one and a half million people, making it one of the largest and most &verse anywhere. William IV had succeeded his brother George IV to the throne in 1830 and everywhere in a dissatisfied England that was sick of political oppression and economic decline there was a call for change. In this unsettled age one of the more repugnant practices, which was becoming increasingly commonplace, was that of bodysnatching or 'resurrection'. It was a profitable trade and 'one of the most covert underworld activities of the day', involving the sale of human bodies to London's hospitals, medical colleges, and other private anatomy schools.
Resurrection was a speculative and seasonal business because the hospitals only held courses between October and April. There were in 1831 roughly 800 medical students in London, over half of whom dissected cadavers as part of their training. As the author of this new book on the subject says, 'The
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
When @djbduncan notices the text for a literary jigsaw puzzle had been written by a former colleague, his head spins. A wild surmise. Are jigsaws REF-able?
Dennis Duncan - The W Factor
Dennis Duncan: The W Factor
literaryreview.co.uk
In an effort to scold drinkers, Victorian temperance societies furiously marked every drinking establishment with a red X on city maps. It was a spectacular case of propaganda backfiring.
@foxtosser explores the history of drink maps
Edward Brooke-Hitching - From Beer Street to Gin Lane
Edward Brooke-Hitching: From Beer Street to Gin Lane - Drink Maps in Victorian Britain by Kris Butler
literaryreview.co.uk
How did a workers’ insurance agent who died of tuberculosis at the age of forty become a global literary icon?
@MortenHoiJensen on Kafka's metamorphosis
Morten Høi Jensen - Paranoid Humanoid
Morten Høi Jensen: Paranoid Humanoid - Metamorphoses: In Search of Franz Kafka by Karolina Watroba; Kafka: Making o...
literaryreview.co.uk