Anatomica is crammed with curiousities from every area of medical practice and illustrated with images from Andreas Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica: it offers a wealth of stories and anecdotes of medical advance and failure across two millennia of history, from the humoural theory of the ancients to the microbial discoveries of Pasteur, and from the era of unanaesthetized battlefield amputation to the wonders of modern-day transplant surgery.

Reeking of pus, putrefaction and gangrenous tissue, and featuring appalling maladies, bizarre medical implements and unspeakable surgical techniques, Anatomica marries rigorous research with the morbid allure of death and disease to create a freewheeling, ghoulishly fascinating and endlessly informative overview of the history of medicine.