Dead Ends!
Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels
Will be published approx. on 15. January 2026
Book
Hardback
160 pages
978-1-5476-1502-5 (ISBN)
Description
From New York Times bestselling author Lindsey Fitzharris, a riveting middle grade nonfiction book about medicine's most fascinating failures and dead ends.
Beheadings! Bloodletting! Bodysnatching! Journey down a snaking road bristling with medicine's most astonishing "dead ends." Marvel at the diagnoses, experiments, and treatments that were frequently useless, and often harmful, but that sometimes led doctors to discoveries that changed the world for the better.
Enjoy a whirlwind tour of the human body-from brain, to heart, to limbs-during which New York Times bestselling author Lindsey Fitzharris and caricaturist Adrian Teal will guide you through centuries of medical mistakes, festooned with riveting facts, pitch-perfect humor, and vivid illustrations. Celebrate the flukes, flops, and failures that have given science a better understanding of our bodies and ways to treat them.
This fascinating book of foul-ups is sure to delight young readers, and inspire them to embrace their failures, too!
Beheadings! Bloodletting! Bodysnatching! Journey down a snaking road bristling with medicine's most astonishing "dead ends." Marvel at the diagnoses, experiments, and treatments that were frequently useless, and often harmful, but that sometimes led doctors to discoveries that changed the world for the better.
Enjoy a whirlwind tour of the human body-from brain, to heart, to limbs-during which New York Times bestselling author Lindsey Fitzharris and caricaturist Adrian Teal will guide you through centuries of medical mistakes, festooned with riveting facts, pitch-perfect humor, and vivid illustrations. Celebrate the flukes, flops, and failures that have given science a better understanding of our bodies and ways to treat them.
This fascinating book of foul-ups is sure to delight young readers, and inspire them to embrace their failures, too!
Reviews / Votes
* Plague-Busters! is chock full of awesomely appalling medical history that is sure to delight audiences, and possibly even spark interest for some future pathologists. * Shelf Awareness, starred review, on PLAGUE-BUSTERS! * * Engaging, informative, but also gross. * SLJ Reviews, starred review, on PLAGUE-BUSTERS! * Fans of Albee's Poison will feel right at home with this darkly comedic piece of nonfiction. * The Horn Book, on PLAGUE-BUSTERS! * A lively illustration of the perils of illness in the olden days. * Kirkus Reviews, on PLAGUE-BUSTERS! * An entertaining, accessible, and satisfyingly disgusting history of six diseases . . . an equally worthy choice for researchers and browsing pathologists. * Booklist, on PLAGUE-BUSTERS! * * Meticulously researched and compulsively readable. * Publishers Weekly (starred review), on THE FACEMAKER * * An excellent biography of a genuine miracle worker. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review), on THE FACEMAKER * This book is riveting. It is gruesome but it is also uplifting . . . What a triumph. * Mary Roach, author of FUZZ and STIFF, on THE FACEMAKER * Atmospheric . . . The story it tells is one of abiding fascination. * Jennifer Senior, The New York Times, on THE BUTCHERING ART *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 8 to 12 years
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
516 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5476-1502-5 (9781547615025)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2025
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Childrens Books
€12.49
Available for download
Persons
Lindsey Fitzharris is a New York Times bestselling author of The Butchering Art and The Facemaker, and the co-author of Plague-Busters! She holds a Ph.D. in the history of science and medicine from Oxford University, and regularly writes for major publications. She is also the writer and host of the Smithsonian TV series The Curious Life and Death of....
drlindseyfitzharris.com
Adrian Teal is a caricaturist, cartoonist, fine artist, and illustrator. He is the co-author and illustrator of Plague-Busters! His work has appeared in numerous TV shows, including Spitting Image and Big Heads. He has produced art for publications such as the Sunday Telegraph, the Times, the Guardian, Time Out, and the Daily Mail.
adrianteal.com
drlindseyfitzharris.com
Adrian Teal is a caricaturist, cartoonist, fine artist, and illustrator. He is the co-author and illustrator of Plague-Busters! His work has appeared in numerous TV shows, including Spitting Image and Big Heads. He has produced art for publications such as the Sunday Telegraph, the Times, the Guardian, Time Out, and the Daily Mail.
adrianteal.com