Dimensions
144 x 224 x 31mm
Innovative medical pioneer, radical humanitarian and flamboyant dandy, Dr James Barry was one of the most charismatic and mysterious individuals of the British Empire in the nineteenth century.
A brilliant military surgeon celebrated for performing one of the first successful Caesarean sections known to Western medicine, Barry's professional travels included postings to the Cape Colony, Mauritius, St Helena, the Caribbean and Canada. Barry's life was a remarkable quest rich with sexual scandal, society gossip and conflict with authority. At the centre of it all was this eccentric military doctor, known for a fiery temper, extravagent dress, vegetarianism, and a loyal entourage - a manservant nicknamed "Black John" and a dog called Psyche.
From Barry's tumultuous posting at the Cape, to slave rebellions in Jamaica and the bloody hospital ships of the Crimean War, 'Scanty Particulars' is a fascinating voyage of discovery.
