Blood: A Biography of the Stuff of Life - Couverture souple

Hill, Lawrence

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 178074546X ISBN 13 : 9781780745466

Editeur : Oneworld Publications, 2014

Synopsis

It's everywhere: from the laws of citizenship to the detection of doping in sport, from the books of the Old Testament and the acts of Macbeth to the mudbloods of Harry Potter and the vampires of Twilight. Blood fills our imagination, just as fully as it fills our veins. In this provocative exploration of the medical and social history of blood, from ancient times to today, award-winning novelist Lawrence Hill considers blood's scientific, cultural, psychological and political aspects. He charts how our understanding of blood has developed over the centuries, sharing a close-up view of William Harvey's bloody dissection table at which the seventeenth-century physician shocked his peers, using a live dog to prove that blood circulates. But blood isn't just about the body, and Hill also reveals how ideas about blood purity have spawned rules on who gets to belong to a family, who enjoys the rights of citizenship and what defines a person's identity. As Hill powerfully and lyrically conveys, blood counts in virtually every aspect of our being that matters.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

It s everywhere: from the laws of citizenship to the detection of doping in sport; from the books of the Old Testament and Macbeth to the mudbloods of Harry Potter and the vampires of Twilight. Blood fills our imagination, just as fully as it fills our veins. In this provocative exploration of the scientific and social history of blood, from ancient times to today, award-winning novelist Lawrence Hill considers blood s physical, cultural, psychological and political aspects. He vividly explores William Harvey s bloody dissection table on which the physician used a live dog to prove that blood circulates, shocking his seventeenth century peers. But blood isn t just about the body, and Hill also reveals how ideas about blood purity have spawned rules about who gets to belong to a family, who enjoys the rights of citizenship, and what defines a person s identity. A fascinating view of blood through the lenses of science and culture, Hill reveals the myriad ways in which this substance so powerfully unites and divides us.

Biographie de l'auteur

Lawrence Hill is the author of the internationally bestselling novel The Book of Negroes, which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada with his family.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Oneworld Publications
• Date d'édition: 2014
• ISBN 10: 178074546X
• ISBN 13: 9781780745466
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 320