SCIENCES

A History of the World Through Body Parts: The Stories Behind the Organs, Appendages, Digits, and the Like Attached to (or Detached from) Famous Bodies

by Kathy Petras & Ross Petras
Chronicle. May 2022. 256p. ISBN 9781797202846. $22.95. MED
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Prolific brother and sister wordsmith team Kathy and Ross Petras (That Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means: The 150 Most Commonly Misused Words and Their Tangled Histories) discuss offbeat topics in world history through various body parts, often those of historic people. For instance, a chapter on Moctezuma’s pierced lip discusses the culture of Aztecs; one on Anne Boleyn’s heart discusses the practice of dispersed burials during the Crusades; and the chapter on Charles II of Spain’s jaw discusses the repercussions of inbreeding. Although there are no footnotes, a list of resources is provided for each chapter at the end of the book. The tone is breezy and often tongue-in-cheek, but the authors take care to make the book relevant to the current moment, such as in the chapter on Typhoid Mary, which chronicles the origins of contact tracing for contagious disease.
VERDICT Clever, informative, entertaining, and sometimes crass, this quick-reading book will appeal to teens and adult readers who like an offbeat view of history, as found in works like The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist’s Thumb, and who aren’t shy about bodily functions.
Reviewed by Nancy H. Fontaine , May 01, 2022
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