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 Kathryn Petras, Ross Petras

Overview

A grab bag of historic spleens, chins, and more, this is your ultimate literary dissection of body parts throughout history!

From famous craniums to prominent breasts, ancient spleens and bound feet, this book will bring history to life in a whole new way. With their inimitable wit and probing intelligence, authors Kathy and Ross Petras look at the role the human body has played throughout history as each individual part becomes a jumping-off point for a wider look at the times. In far-ranging, quirky-yet-interrelated stories, learn about Charles II of Spain's jaw and the repercussions of inbreeding, what Anne Boleyn's heart says about the Crusades and the trend of dispersed burials, and what can be learned about Lady Xoc's pierced tongue. A History of the World Through Body Parts is packed with fascinating little-known historical facts and anecdotes that will entertain, enlighten, and delight even the most well-read history buff.

BESTSELLING AUTHORS: Kathy and Ross Petras have authored the New York Times bestseller You're Saying It Wrong and the hit calendar The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said, now in its 24th year with over 4.8 million copies sold!

ENGAGING CONTENT: Packed with rich material told with a lively and humorous voice, take a trip through history in this unique, exciting way.

QUIRKY HISTORY FANS REJOICE!: For fans of The Disappearing Spoon, Wicked Plants, The Violinist's Thumb, The Sawbones Book and Strange Histories!

Perfect for:

• History buffs and pop history fans
• Father's Day, birthday, and holiday shoppers

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781797202846
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,078,674
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Kathryn & Ross Petras are a brother-and-sister writing team and authors of many word-oriented books like the New York Times bestseller You're Saying It Wrong, THAT DOESN'T MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS, as well as Very Bad Poetry and Wretched Writing. They've also compiled a series of bestselling quote books like Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're a Cheese and It Always Seems Impossible Until It's Done, as well as the page-a-day calendar The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said (now in its 24th year – with over 4.8 million copies sold) and its counterpart The 365 Smartest Things Ever Said. They also do a podcast, a sort of Car Talk about words, with NPR's KMUW called You're Saying It Wrong.

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

1 Paleolithic Pyrenean Woman's Hands 19

… and the digital revolution in cave art, or the fine art of hand stenciling (50,000-10,000 BCE)

2 Queen Hatshepsut's Beard 27

… and monumental masculinity, or the difficulties of being a female ruler in ancient times (FL. 1450 BCE)

3 Zeus's Penis 33

… and ancient Greek aesthetics and philosophy through genitalia, or small is better (510-323 BCE-Classical Greek Period)

4 Cleopatra's Nose 43

… and why size matters, or big noses and bigger empires (69-30 BCE)

5 Triêu Thi Trinh's Breasts 51

… and how the patriarchy tried to keep a good woman down, or what's maybe missing in history books (225-248)

6 St. Cuthbert's Fingernails 59

… and how the Catholic Church used pieces of saints to spread their influence-and make an arm and a leg in the process (634-687)

7 Lady XOC's Tongue 65

… and the politics of body piercing, or how bloodletting kept civilization alive (FL. 700)

8 Al-Ma'Arri's Eyes 73

… and a blind man's farseeing vision, or medieval modernity (973-1057)

9 Timur's (Tamerlane's) Leg 81

… and disability, nicknames, and conquest (1336-1405)

10 Richard III's Back 89

… and how a historical public-relations image campaign-later aided by a certain big-name playwright-created a villain (1452-1485)

11 Martin Luther's Bowels 97

… and how-possibly-a religious revolution was spawned in a not-so-spiritual place (1483-1546)

12 Anne Boleyn's Heart 105

… and the fad of being buried in more than one place (c.1501-1536)

13 Charles I's and Oliver Cromwell's Heads 113

… and two competing ideas of government-and the rise of constitutional monarchy (1600-1649 and 1559-1658)

14 Charles II of Spain's Jaw 121

… and the unfortunate repercussions of keeping things all in the family (1661-1700)

15 George Washington's (Fake) Teeth 129

… and their dirty little secret (1732-1799)

16 Benedict Arnold's Leg 137

… and how revolution lost its luster and converted a hero to a traitor (1741-1801)

17 Marat's Skin 145

… and how a debilitating condition led to the birth of propaganda art (1743-1793)

18 Lord Byron's Foot 153

… and the birth of the modern-day celebrity (1788-1824)

19 Harriet Tubman's Brain 161

… and how an act of violence against an enslaved person contributed to the eventual downfall of slavery (C.1822-1913)

20 The Bell Family's Ears 169

… and an obsession with hearing-and not hearing, or a quest for visible speech and what it gave the world (1847-1922)

21 Kaiser Wilhelm's Arm 177

… from breech birth to bombs (1859-1941)

22 Mary Mallon's Gallbladder 185

… and lurking bacteria, spreading disease, peaches and cream … and contact tracing? (1869-1938)

23 Lenin's Skin 193

… and its role in a quasi-religious cult in a nonreligious state (1870-1924)

24 Qiu Jin's Feet 201

… and how binding spawned the feminist fight for freedom (1875-1907)

25 Einstein's Brain 207

… and a tale of cider boxes, mason jars, and, possibly, the biological basis of genius (1879-1955)

26 Frida Kahlo's Spine 215

… and the positive side of being bedridden for nine months (1907-1954)

27 Alan Shephard's Bladder 223

… and the prosaic but important problems of space elimination (1923-1998)

Resources 231

Acknowledgments 253

About the Authors 255

Editorial Reviews

"Clever, informative, entertaining...this quick-reading book will appeal to teens and adult readers who like an offbeat view of history."

—Library Journal

"Readers of unique history will devour this book, but it’s also a great way to get someone interested in a narrower version of a broader subject."

—The Bookworm Sez

2022 Holiday Gift Book pick

"Perfect for gifting"

—Crime Reads

From the Publisher

05/01/2022

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.—Nancy H. Fontaine

Library Journal