The Anatomy Murders: Being the True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh's Notorious Burke and Hare and of the Man of Science Who Abetted Them in the Commission of Their Most Heinous Crimes
by Lisa Rosner 
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Up the close and down the stair, Up and down with Burke and Hare. Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief, Knox the man who buys the beef.-anonymous children's song On Halloween night 1828, in the West Port district of Edinburgh, Scotland, a woman sometimes known as Madgy Docherty was last seen in the company of William Burke and William Hare. Days later, police discovered her remains in the surgery of the prominent anatomist Dr. Robert Knox. Docherty was the final victim of the most atrocious show more murder spree of the century, outflanking even Jack the Ripper's. Together with their accomplices, Burke and Hare would be accused of killing sixteen people over the course of twelve months in order to sell the corpses as "subjects" for dissection. The ensuing criminal investigation into the "Anatomy Murders" raised troubling questions about the common practices by which medical men obtained cadavers, the lives of the poor in Edinburgh's back alleys, and the ability of the police to protect the public from cold-blooded murder. Famous among true crime aficionados, Burke and Hare were the first serial killers to capture media attention, yet The Anatomy Murders is the first book to situate their story against the social and cultural forces that were bringing early nineteenth-century Britain into modernity. In Lisa Rosner's deft treatment, each of the murder victims, from the beautiful, doomed Mary Paterson to the unfortunate "Daft Jamie," opens a window on a different aspect of this world in transition. Tapping into a wealth of unpublished materials, Rosner meticulously portrays the aspirations of doctors and anatomists, the makeshift existence of the so-called dangerous classes, the rudimentary police apparatus, and the half-fiction, half-journalism of the popular press. The Anatomy Murders resurrects a tale of murder and medicine in a city whose grand Georgian squares and crescents stood beside a maze of slums, a place in which a dead body was far more valuable than a living laborer. show lessTags
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The Anatomy Murders by Lisa Rosner is a detailed account of the 16 murders committed by William Burke and William Hare in order to provide cadavers for the dissection labs of Edinburgh anatomists, primarily the surgeon Dr. Robert Knox. Using a method that comes to be known as "burking," the crime becomes infamous not only because of its macabre nature, but also because of the social and cultural impact it has on the practice of dissection and modern medicine.
Using one or two of the murders per chapter as illustrations, Rosner addresses social and cultural issues connected with the crime. These topics include what life was like for the lower classes of Edinburgh during the 1820s, the culture of medical practice and the taboo of show more dissections, and the developement of the concept of modern law enforcement. This approach is accessible to many readers, as it puts many of the individual murders into the context of society at large, helping the reader to understand how such a crime could occur.
Rosner also skirts of the issue of responsibility for the crimes. While it is clear of who the actual perpertrators are, Rosner ponders what factor or segment of society is most to blame. Is it the desperation of the poor, and the negligence of the rich? Is it the anatomists, who chose not to ask questions, or is it society, who could not accept the need for anatomical instruction?
Naturally, there are no easy answers, but Rosner does a good job of presenting all sides and maintaining a neutral tone. The major flaw of the text is one that plagues many histories, in that some of the subjects discussed become bogged down, and it sometimes feels as if the historian is simply rephrasing arguments. In spite of this, I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the history of medicine from a social viewpoint, or for the most ardent fans of true crime, who wish to learn more about one of the first crimes to grip the popular imagination. show less
Using one or two of the murders per chapter as illustrations, Rosner addresses social and cultural issues connected with the crime. These topics include what life was like for the lower classes of Edinburgh during the 1820s, the culture of medical practice and the taboo of show more dissections, and the developement of the concept of modern law enforcement. This approach is accessible to many readers, as it puts many of the individual murders into the context of society at large, helping the reader to understand how such a crime could occur.
Rosner also skirts of the issue of responsibility for the crimes. While it is clear of who the actual perpertrators are, Rosner ponders what factor or segment of society is most to blame. Is it the desperation of the poor, and the negligence of the rich? Is it the anatomists, who chose not to ask questions, or is it society, who could not accept the need for anatomical instruction?
Naturally, there are no easy answers, but Rosner does a good job of presenting all sides and maintaining a neutral tone. The major flaw of the text is one that plagues many histories, in that some of the subjects discussed become bogged down, and it sometimes feels as if the historian is simply rephrasing arguments. In spite of this, I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the history of medicine from a social viewpoint, or for the most ardent fans of true crime, who wish to learn more about one of the first crimes to grip the popular imagination. show less
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Author Information
19 Works 154 Members
Lisa Rosner is Professor of History at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and author of The Most Beautiful Man in Existence: The Scandalous Life of Alexander Lesassier, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.
Lisa Rosner is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Anatomy Murders: Being the True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh's Notorious Burke and Hare and of the Man of Science Who Abetted Them in the Commission of Their Most Heinous Crimes
- Original publication date
- 2009-10-05
- First words
- Though neither was native to the city and both are long gone, William Burke and William Hare remain two of Edinburgh's most famous residents.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Ultimately history, like some evil enchantress in a fairy tale, gave Knox posthumous fame at a price he never would have wanted to pay.
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Politics and Government, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 364.152 — Society, government, & culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses Offenses against the person Homicide
- LCC
- HV6535 .G6 .R568 — Social sciences Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Crimes and offenses
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 78
- Popularity
- 406,294
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.06)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
