Description

Book Synopsis
How has a medical practice that carries substantial risk to the patient and offers very little actual benefit become so widely accepted by parents and fiercely advocated by the medical community? Historian of medicine David Gollaher tells the strange history of medicine''s oldest enigma and most persistent ritual in Circumcision. From the extraordinarily painful initiation rite of the ancient Egyptians, through the Hebrew purification ritual, through circumcision''s use by the rising medical community in the nineteenth century as prevention for ailments ranging from bedwetting to paralysis, the great mystery has been the persistence of the practice through vastly different social contexts.

Trade Review
"A fascinating and comprehensive history....Informative, highly readable, and completely painless." Kirkus Reviews

Circumcision A History Of The Worlds Most Controversial Surgery

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    A Paperback by David Gollaher

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      View other formats and editions of Circumcision A History Of The Worlds Most Controversial Surgery by David Gollaher

      Publisher: Basic Books
      Publication Date: 2/28/2001 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN13: 9780465026531, 978-0465026531
      ISBN10: 0465026532
      Also in:
      General and world history History of medicine

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      How has a medical practice that carries substantial risk to the patient and offers very little actual benefit become so widely accepted by parents and fiercely advocated by the medical community? Historian of medicine David Gollaher tells the strange history of medicine''s oldest enigma and most persistent ritual in Circumcision. From the extraordinarily painful initiation rite of the ancient Egyptians, through the Hebrew purification ritual, through circumcision''s use by the rising medical community in the nineteenth century as prevention for ailments ranging from bedwetting to paralysis, the great mystery has been the persistence of the practice through vastly different social contexts.

      Trade Review
      "A fascinating and comprehensive history....Informative, highly readable, and completely painless." Kirkus Reviews

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