Blood
a biography of the stuff of life
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Word Count
77,500 words, Guess
Page Count
310 pages
Identifiers
- Internet Archivebloodbiographyof0000hill
- ISBN-10178074546X
- ISBN-139781780745466
- ISBN-139781780745473
- ISBN-101780745478
and 3 more
- OCLC Control Number876291158
- Better World Books9781780745473
- Open LibraryOL32804343M
Classifications
- DDC573.15
- LCCQP91
Description
Offers a provocative examination of the scientific and social history of blood, and on the ways that it unites and divides us today. Blood runs red through every person's arteries, and fulfills the same functions in every human being. However, as much as the study and use of blood has helped advance our understanding of human biology, its cultural and social representations have divided us perennially. Blood pulses through religions, literature, and the visual arts, and every time it pools or spills, we learn a little more about what brings human beings together and what divides them. Is a fascinating historical and contemporary interpretation of blood, as a bold and enduring determinant of identity, race, culture, citizenship, belonging, privilege, deprivation, athletic superiority, and nationhood.
Description
"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"--Publisher's description.
Subjects
Topics
Other Editions
- Blood: a biography of the stuff of life
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