Eat Me: A Natural and Unnatural History of Cannibalism (Wellcome Collection) by Bill Schutt (PDF)

Description

Cannibalism. It’s the last, greatest taboo: the stuff of urban legends and ancient myths, airline crashes and Captain Cook. But while we might get a thrill at the thought of the black widow spider’s gruesome mating habits or the tragic fate of the nineteenth-century Donner Party pioneers, today cannibalism belongs to history – or, at the very least, the realm of the weird, the rare and the very far away. Doesn’t it?Here, zoologist Bill Schutt digs his teeth into the subject to find an answer that is as surprising as it is unsettling. From the plot of Psycho to the ritual of the Eucharist, cannibalism is woven into our history, our culture – even our medicine. And in the natural world, eating your own kind is everything from a survival strategy – practiced by polar bears and hamsters alike – to an evolutionary adaption like that found in sand tiger sharks, who, by the time they are born, will have eaten all but one of their siblings in the womb. Dark, fascinating and endlessly curious, Eat Me delves into human and animal cannibalism to find a story of colonialism, religion, anthropology, dinosaurs, ancient humans and modern consequences, from the terrible ‘laughing death’ disease kuru to the BSE crisis. And – of course – our intrepid author tries it out for himself.Published in partnership with Wellcome Collection.Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library that aims to challenge how we think and feel about health. Inspired by the medical objects and curiosities collected by Henry Wellcome, it connects science, medicine, life and art. Wellcome Collection exhibitions, events and books explore a diverse range of subjects, including consciousness, forensic medicine, emotions, sexology, identity and death. Wellcome Collection is part of Wellcome, a global charitable foundation that exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive, funding over 14,000 researchers and projects in more than 70 countries.wellcomecollection.org

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐As a plant based eater, I wanted to get a different perspective on eating flesh, so i thought i’d go back to how humans ate each other to learn about the history of flesh eating. What doesn’t initially seem to be a vegan relevant book ends with discussion of ‘Mad Cow’ disease and related flesh eating disorders, including political and commercial ones. It seems that across time and nature cannibalism is present in various species, although in humans it tended to be ritual or survival cannibalism. Our ability to make ethical changes to stop eating each other as humans, may depend on our ability to produce sufficient food for our species. So changing habits away from animal eating, which is known to deplete and pollute Earth’s resources, might just avoid the misery of us eating ourselves again. Fascinating, easily readable and well researched. I promise never again to eat meat … or you

⭐This book is written in an accessible and sometimes drily humorous style. It is wide-ranging and addresses topics one wouldn’t necessarily have regarded as cannibalism, such as the eating of placentas. The chapter on BSE exposes the revolting practices of the meat industry and the government’s habit of putting profits above people’s (and, needless to say, animals’) health and wellbeing.Eye-opening, thought-provoking and highly recommended.

⭐A fascinating study of cannibalism – not in the least bit lurid.From the animal kingdom to human beings, the author carefully covers everything on the subject, including, spider self-sacrifice, the American pioneers, Mad Cow disease and the spread of Ebola.Not that I do either, but I had never considered whether biting your nails and eating your nose pickings constituted a form of cannibalism, but he does – and this book has left me certainly wider read and more observant of life.An enjoyable read – even for the squeamish.

⭐A broad, balanced, scientific overview of cannibalism – both in the natural world and in humans. Very informative without being gruesome. Covers a lot of theory as to why cannibalism occurs. The historical connotations of being labelled as ‘cannibals’ and the link to slavery was a particularly interesting point.

⭐Great read to chew on, giving insight into some of the real zoological and physiological topics surrounding cannibalism.Well written and relatively bite size chapters covering a broad pallet.

⭐Wow – what an interesting resume of a ‘difficult’ topic.Go for it.

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