Richard Barnett (born 1980) is a medical historian and the writer of six non-fiction books: ''Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures'', ''The Dedalus Book of Gin'', and a trilogy with

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

: ''The Sick Rose'', ''Crucial Interventions'', and ''Smile Stealers''. In ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

'', Niall Boyce wrote of ''The Sick Rose'', "the excellent choices of image, high production standards, and formidable scholarship of The Sick Rose suggest that it is a book that will endure. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in art, medicine, history, or, simply, the difficult and exhausting business of having and maintaining a body." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' praised the book as well, stating, "Richard Barnett's superbly erudite and lucid accompanying text would really suffice in itself as an introduction to the history of western medical science." Anisha Gupta wrote in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' of ''The Smile Stealers'', "Barnett expertly narrates the 'medical history' that has shaped the dental profession from its gruesome origins of the 'tooth puller', through to its modern day format of the skilled clinical service provider and aesthetician of the twenty-first century." The ''

Engineering & Technology ''Engineering & Technology'' (''E&T'') is a science, engineering and technology magazine published by IET Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a registered charity in the United Kingdom. Th ...

'' magazine reviewer found the work "stands out among other 'dental' publications both in quality and in quantity. ... What I particularly like about 'The Smile Stealers' is its often irreverent, tongue-in-cheek (in the true sense) tone ..." ''The Smile Stealers'' was the basis for the "Teeth" exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London, in 2018. His expertise in the history of medicine led to him becoming the 2014 Scholar in Residence at the Morbid Anatomy Library in New York, and to being the historical consultant for

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's short-running historical comedy ''Quacks''. He was also a judge for the

Wellcome Book Prize Wellcome Book Prize (2009–2019 — paused) is an annual British literary award sponsored by Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established i ...

and the MacCarthy Award, both in their founding years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Richard 1980 births Living people British medical historians Historians at the University of Cambridge 21st-century British historians 21st-century British non-fiction writers British male non-fiction writers