The Facemaker: One Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I (Paperback)

'In this fascinating book, Fitzharris reminds us there is nothing superficial about plastic surgery's ability to heal minds as well as bodies' - Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday

'Scholarly yet deeply moving... this a fascinating book about a remarkable man, and of how teamwork is such an important part of good surgery. Despite the grim subject matter, it is a deeply moving and uplifting story' - Henry Marsh, New Statesman

'Careful... sensitive... [Fitzharris] has successfully pieced together the story of a team of doctors, hospital workers and patients "battling" together during the First World War to modernize reconstructive plastic surgery... Fitzharris constructs a variegated and tender account of the First World War, its brutality and its narratives of human redemption... tenderness and pathos pervade the personal stories of surgery and recovery, as well as Fitzharris's engagement with the ethics of facial difference and display' - Christine Slobogin, TLS

'The Facemaker is an engaging biography of a masterful surgeon as well as a heartening account of medical progress' - Economist

'Sometimes distressing, sometimes thrilling, The Facemaker had me gripped; it is elegantly written and endlessly fascinating. Employing just the right balance between diligent research and ingenious reanimation, Fitzharris brings to life a neglected slice of medical history, telling both Gillies' story as well as that of many of the men whose faces - and lives - he saved' - Lucy Scholes, Financial Times

'Engrossing... Fitzharris presents an intensely moving and hugely enjoyable story about a remarkable medical pioneer and the men he remade' - Wendy Moore, Guardian