The Secret Life of Dr James Barry by Rachel Holmes

The Secret Life of Dr James Barry by Rachel Holmes

A reissue of Rachel Holmes's landmark biography of Dr James Barry, one of the most enigmatic figures of the Victorian age.

James Barry was one of the nineteenth century’s most exceptional doctors, and one of its great unsung heroes. Famed for his brilliant innovations, Dr Barry influenced the birth of modern medical practice in places as far apart as South Africa, Jamaica and Canada. Barry’s skills attracted admirers across the globe, but there were also many detractors of the ostentatious dandy, who caused controversy everywhere he went. Yet unbeknownst to all, the military surgeon concealed a lifelong secret at the heart of his identity: on his death Barry was claimed to be anatomically female and in fact a cross-dresser.

Vividly drawn and meticulously researched, The Secret Life of Dr James Barry brings to life one of the most enigmatic figures of the Victorian age, elevating its subject to a latter-day transgender icon – and is a landmark in the art of biography.

Meticulously researched and fantastically discursive * Independent Magazine *
Wonderful -- Amanda Foreman
Serious, sympathetic and absolutely fascinating * Mail on Sunday *

Rachel Holmes is the author of Eleanor Marx: A Life, The Secret Life of Dr James Barry and The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Saartjie Baartman. She is co-editor of Fifty Shades of Feminism and I Call Myself A Feminist. She lives in London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781408891575
ISBN 10	1408891573
Title	The Secret Life of Dr James Barry
Author	Rachel Holmes
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2020-09-17
Number of pages	528
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.