The History of Burke and Hare, and of the Resurrectionist Times A Fragment from the Criminal Annals of Scotland

"The History of Burke and Hare, and of the Resurrectionist Times" by George Mac Gregor is a chilling nonfiction saga about two men who turned murder into a business, preying on the vulnerable to provide corpses for medical schools in 19th-century Scotland. The story opens by painting a vivid picture of a society grappling with the ethical quandaries of medical advancement and grave robbing: desperately needed medical cadavers and public outrage. The book meticulously charts the convergence of crime and medicine during the "Resurrectionist" era and Mac Gregor sets the stage by revealing the sinister methods that Burke and Hare employed, capturing both the horror and the morbid fascination of Victorian society. It then recounts the public's reaction to their crimes, as the author builds to the infamous trial that exposed the dark underbelly of scientific progress and etched the duo's name into history.