Burke and Hare

In the dark lodging houses of Edinburgh, two men discovered that the dead could be turned into profit.

William Burke and William Hare began by selling a single corpse. What followed was something far worse. As the demand for cadavers surged and legal supply failed, they crossed a brutal line from body trading into murder. Their victims were the poor, the vulnerable, and the forgotten. Their destination was the dissecting room.

Burke and Hare: The Murders That Fed Anatomy is a full-length historical true crime account of one of Britain's most infamous murder cases. It traces the rise of the anatomy trade, the social conditions of Edinburgh's underclass, the killings themselves, and the system that made them possible.

More than a story of two killers, this is the story of a city that allowed science, poverty, and profit to collide with deadly consequences.

Inside this book:

• The rise of Burke and Hare in Edinburgh's West Port
• The anatomy trade and shortage of legal cadavers
• The victims and how they were targeted
• The role of Robert Knox and the dissecting rooms
• Discovery, arrest, trial, and execution
• The Anatomy Act and its lasting consequences

A chilling and serious account of murder, anatomy, and the cost of progress.