This book does exactly what "it says on the tin", or in this case on the cover. Not one necessarily for the squeamish, but once you pick it up it is hard to put it down until you have read at least one more fact. I can see the information contained within the book being quoted time and time again in many social gatherings.

How to Remove a Brain And Other Bizarre Medical Practices and Procedures by David Haviland is a fun and crazy book with things in there I would have never thought of. I requested this book from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. Let me first say, I have two degrees, I am a nurse (that helps when reading some of this gross stuff), so I am not an illiterate person. I like trivia and I can't help it if this trivia is a little on the... strange side. I don't want to call it odd, lets call it obscure. Let's just say if you are looking for something different, you got it! I loved it, different, strange, you won't find this anywhere else! LOL

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is essentially a book of random interesting science and medical facts from history. Think horrible histories! Very easy to read and great to dip in and out of as and when you want. Would recommend to anyone from children to grown adults!

This book is enjoyable for the trivia buffs among us. Learn more about Jack the Ripper, what hiccups are for, and what an Unexplained Beer Injury is. I found my jaw hanging open and saying "eewww" several times. I also learned that some of what I thought was fact was in all honesty just myth. It's also a great book if you don't have a lot of time, because not only is it split into chapters, it is split into individual answers to questions, so you can quickly read excerpts when life allows. The only thing I felt could use improvement was that it was a bit dry. A little humor interjected, or even an occasional graphic, would have spiced it up nicely. This is a good addition to your reference library.

Once you get started reading, you can't stop! Right from the start you know you have a really great book in your hands, The information provided is thorough yet concise and the anecdotes provide a well needed laugh when reading about some really nasty things... All in all, it's a great book about practices that ideas that have survived through time and nowadays may give us laughs but prove that medicine is never that easy and the quacks of today once were the scientists of days past!

How to remove a brain is a fun collection of trivia, weird science, chicanery and medical based factoids.

The writing style is chatty and informal and especially for medical/science type books, completely accessible. The book is broken into very short articles which are grouped with related subjects.

The subjects are well researched and the science is accurate. I really appreciated that. The subjects range from medieval medical practices (generally ineffective if not downright scary (and harmful)) to scientific history and famous scientists (Semmelweis, Pasteur, Rosalind Franklin, etc).

I really enjoyed reading the entries which are short enough to fit into any spare time standing in queue etc. I think that this book would appeal to any trivia fan and/or science curious person (9 year old me would have LOVED this book! :)

There are some articles which are somewhat graphic (as the title indicates) but nothing too objectionable in my opinion. (There are, however, some fairly horrific historical medical practices described along with charlatans throughout history).


My only real objection is how abruptly the book ends. Last entry just -ends- without any sort of tying together of themes or real ending. It didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the book, but it was surprising (I went looking to see if I had not downloaded the entire book or if there was some mistake with my copy... there wasn't, it just ends).


Love the science, love the history. A fun/interesting/trivia filled read. I am a professional scientist, working in healthcare and I am not at all ashamed to admit I learned several things from this book which I'd never heard before (like the origin of the word 'toady' ). Cool stuff


Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.

This is an interesting little book packed full of fun facts and descriptive tit-bits throughout the ages regarding medical oddities. It was very easy to dip in and out of, and reminded me of the Horrible History books I read as a child. I liked the way it was organised, chronologically, and it was well thought out.

However, I sometimes found some of the facts and interesting bits of information a bit lacking. They could have been filled out with a bit more background. However, having said that this was still a fun and light read. Very informative.

I read Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything last month and loved it so I thought I'd stick with the theme of quirky historical medical non-fiction this month too. I love the cover and the book on the whole was interesting but it was a little disappointing as the other book I mentioned had lots of unique images, diagrams and extra sections to it but this didn't and it felt a bit boring in comparison.

From my general knowledge, college/university experience and documentaries, I knew about 40% of the book already but the rest was very interesting and a little gross at times but good all the same. I think I'd only really recommend this book if you hadn't read or watched much about the topic, otherwise it might seem a little repetitive.

Omg this book was interesting as hell. Its great for parties and family gathering

This is a fantastic collection. I thoroughly enjoyed the crazy facts and histories.