Circumcision: A History Of The World's Most Controversial Surgery Hardcover – March 20, 2000
Author: Visit Amazon's David Gollaher Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0465043976 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Circumcision: A History Of The World's Most Controversial Surgery – March 20, 2000
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Amazon.com Review
More than a million infant boys are circumcised every year in America, the highest occurrence of this procedure in the world. Why? Out of sheer cultural habit, concludes David Gollaher in his groundbreaking study, Circumcision. The tremendous momentum behind Gollaher's account is generated by one simple question: what is known about this most common of procedures? Alarmingly, precious little. Gollaher remedies that problem by tracing the historical roots of circumcision as a rite of passage into manhood in various ancient cultures before bringing the reader to 19th-century America, when circumcision rates skyrocketed through endorsements by the nascent American medical profession, which credited circumcision with exaggerated health benefits. Circumcision would eventually turn into a mark of class distinction, and the surgery would become entrenched in modern medical practices, despite scant study of its benefits, dangers, or side effects. Gollaher is to be commended for maintaining an even perspective on a practice that is sure to become increasingly controversial; he allows the research itself to fascinate and illuminate. As expected, there are many unsettling graphic descriptions in this book, but its most horrifying revelation is its most casual: the incontrovertible fact that circumcision remains the least understood--yet most widely practiced--surgery in the United States. --Sumi Hahn Almquist
Review
". . . Berlin is the audacious, craved city of modern times, and David Clay Large the star reporter at its city desk." -- Peter
". . . Large demonstrates in these pages that he is as good a raconteur as he is a historian." -- Gordon A. Craig, Stanford University
". . . a vivid and compelling history of the city which was in many ways the fulcrum of the twentieth century." -- Niall Ferguson,
". . . a vivid picture of a city . . ..Admirably broad and informative." -- Fritz Stern, Columbia University
". . . absorbing, penetrating, and-in the best sense of the word-entertaining exploration of Berlin's turbulent modern history." -- Peter Hayes, Professor of History, Northwestern University
"David L. Gollaher's judicious and anatomically unflinching study seems likely to prompt considerable debate-not to mention a lot of crossed legs." -- Mirabella
"In his fascinating new bookhe [Gollaher] sets out to make 'the strange familiar' but also 'the familiar strange." -- The New York Times
"There are several good books on modern Berlin, but none has quite the authority and flair of Large's Berlin." -- Peter Gay,
"Vivid narrative history of a city like no other, related with power and style." -- Kirkus Reviews
". . . Large demonstrates in these pages that he is as good a raconteur as he is a historian." -- Gordon A. Craig, Stanford University
". . . a vivid and compelling history of the city which was in many ways the fulcrum of the twentieth century." -- Niall Ferguson,
". . . a vivid picture of a city . . ..Admirably broad and informative." -- Fritz Stern, Columbia University
". . . absorbing, penetrating, and-in the best sense of the word-entertaining exploration of Berlin's turbulent modern history." -- Peter Hayes, Professor of History, Northwestern University
"David L. Gollaher's judicious and anatomically unflinching study seems likely to prompt considerable debate-not to mention a lot of crossed legs." -- Mirabella
"In his fascinating new bookhe [Gollaher] sets out to make 'the strange familiar' but also 'the familiar strange." -- The New York Times
"There are several good books on modern Berlin, but none has quite the authority and flair of Large's Berlin." -- Peter Gay,
"Vivid narrative history of a city like no other, related with power and style." -- Kirkus Reviews
See all Editorial Reviews
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Circumcision: A History Of The World's Most Controversial Surgery – March 20, 2000
- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books; 1ST edition (March 20, 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0465043976
- ISBN-13: 978-0465043972
- Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
You might think that the most common surgery in the United States would also be the least controversial-an operation whose medical necessity and benefits have proved beyond question. And you would be wrong. As this fascinating history of that procedure makes clear, circumcision is rooted not in medical science, but in the deepest recesses of religion and culture.
Circumcision is performed on more than one million infant and prepubescent boys around the world every year. In America, even though a growing number of physicians dispute its benefits, circumcision remains the most frequently performed elective surgical procedure. In 1995, 64.1% of US male newborns were circumcised-yet there is no proven medical benefit to this practice on normal infants. This book, by medical historian David L. Gollahar presents a fascinating history of this controversial practice and why it has persisted over time through vastly different social contexts.
As this book shows, the removal of genital foreskin has a long and varied history: from the extraordinarily painful initiation rite of the ancient Egyptians, through the Hebrew purification ritual, through its use by nineteen-century doctors as prevention for ailments including bedwetting, paralysis, syphilis, and epilepsy, to the present persistence of female circumcision in African cultures. Gollaher also addresses the current controversy over the procedure's continuance, and those opposing routine circumcision will find support here.
Gollaher concludes that "if male circumcision were confined to developing nations," similar to the status of female circumcision, "it would by now have emerged as an international cause célèbre."
David L.
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