The human head is a remarkable creation. Of the five senses, four are controlled by the head alone. It protects the brain within a close-fitting shell and contains the body's most expressive group of muscles.
The head is one of humanity's most distinctive features, connecting our inner selves to the outside world. Yet despite its extraordinary abilities, it has also endured dark periods. Throughout human history, these have chiefly taken the form of beheadings and the severing of enemies' heads. Whether it was Western collectors' demand for shrunken heads that fueled massacres, American soldiers in World War II sending Japanese body parts home to their families, Madame Tussaud making a wax figure of the beheaded Robespierre, or Damien Hirst photographing severed heads in a morgue; whether the subject is grave-robbing phrenologists or scientists obsessed with skulls, anthropologist Frances Larson examines our gruesome fascination with severed heads in a serious, in-depth, lively, and engaging study.
Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, this book's findings have far-reaching implications. Inevitably, it also has a darkly humorous quality. Each chapter deftly reveals anthropological and historical details in a way that is remarkably compelling. The book also repeatedly challenges readers' binary views of civilization and barbarism, the Western world and the "other world," violence and medicine, and religion and propriety.
Everything was good except for the part about Madame Tussauds, but some of the content in that part was inaccurate.
The content of this book is really interesting! It explores humanity's fascination with heads through some bizarre stories, such as Oliver Cromwell's head being used as a handle. The author's language is exquisite, and it is not boring to read at all. It also allows us to think more deeply about the boundaries between civilization and barbarism.
This book is very interesting. Through the author's description, you can see that the story behind the history of beheading is intriguing. The dark side of human nature cannot be summarized by the influence of many civilizations!