This is a very fun book about the practice of stealing bodies for medical and artistic purposes, especially in the 19th century in Scotland. A mix of facts and legends from that time period, providing information about how developments in medicine were made possible through learning about the human body from recently deceased bodies. The book talks about the protections people went through to protect their deceased loved ones in the height of grave robbing, and how when the government established legal means for doctors/scientists to gain access to bodies for their cadavers the practice of stealing bodies decreased dramatically. Also addresses the notorious murderers Burke and Hare who would murder unsuspecting people and then sell their bodies; they did face justice in the end!
Plenty of humor to lighten the darkness of the conversation worked in throughout the book. Great for the curious young person! ( )

From the British series of children's books that introduce unsavory history such as Salem witches and Irish famine ships, this title focuses on the grave robbers of Edinburgh who supplied corpses to surgeons for the purpose of teaching anatomy before dissection was legal. Much of the book covers the infamous Burke and Hare case. The illustrations are what I'd call cartoonishly scary and perfect for the darkly humorous text, which includes such questionable information as, "Some people say that you are unlikely to catch nasty diseases from people who handle dead bodies, but do you really want to take the chance?" and an illustrated step-by-step explanation as to how Burke and Hare were able to kill their victims without leaving marks on the bodies comes with a preface that says " So even if a dissected body was traced back to them, no one could prove it was murder." ( )