The First World War unleashed an unprecedented wave of violence, and medicine struggled to keep up. British surgeon Harold Gillies was at the forefront of those dragging plastic surgery into the modern age, reconstructing the faces of thousands of soldiers. Lindsey Fitzharris speaks to Rhiannon Davies about Gillies’ remarkable contribution to medical science.
Lindsey Fitzharris is the author of The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I (Penguin, 2022)