This is an interesting if slightly brief look at how veterinary medicine has developed over history, thanks to various pioneers. Each chapter features a particular person and starts with an imagined scene featuring that person providing care to an animal. Then it explains some of the history of the time and how some of the knowledge or procedures compare to today (some things don’t change because they just work!). However sometimes I found that the focus person of the chapter didn’t feature very much - McGrath being the one I noticed most. The story featured her and there were maybe a few paragraphs but then Schott said not much was documented about her and he started talking about two other female vets…?

However, the tone of writing, the stories, the research were all good and this will serve as an interesting introduction to anyone with an interest in history and science. A list of further reading is provided at the back of the book for deeper exploration.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Have read the authors previous works and this is another great read. A mix of history, natural history and memoir ,

I just finished the advance read copy of Heal the Beasts by Philipp Schott, and my biggest question is ... How many books should I purchase?

My neighbor is a veterinarian and I drove her to an eye doctor appointment a couple weeks ago. I told her I was reading this book and that she probably learned much of the history when she was studying. And she said "no, not really". And my cousin's daughter just finished her vet tech internship. And a good friend has a friend who is a vet. And I might like a hard copy of this one; I loved the acknowledgements and additional reading.

Heal the Beasts: A Jaunt Through the Curious History of the Veterinary Arts dedicates a chapter to 22 veterinarians through the ages.

I really love Philipp Schott's writing since he wrote Willow Wren. I think I've read all but one book that he has written since. I'm a huge fan of his writing; I love those little dry zingers that he slips in. Additionally there are several pages of pictures to add further interest.

I really enjoyed Heal the Beasts, even read the parts that made me cringe a little.

Many thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Heal the Beasts in exchange for an honest review. Approx 260 pages. Publication date is July 8, 2025.

Absolutely facinating! The evolution of veterinary medicine and science through the ages from the use of herblore and some rather suspect practices through to the development of veterinary schools and a more scientific approach. I like the little story at the start of each chapter which the author uses to illustrate the historical references in that chapter. The collection of pictures and photos at the end was really interesting. The author explains things clearly without overdoing the medical jargon and shows how each of the 'pioneers' in the field moved the profession forward. A very interesting read.
Thanks to Netgalley, ECW Press, and Philipp Schott for the free ARC. All opinions are my own.

While I’m not sure how this book would go over with someone not interested in animals and their health in general, I really enjoyed the book. I’m a dog groomer and work with a rescue and I’ve always been interested in vet med so this was a fun read. I think it was a good mix of history with humor mixed in. The sort of fictional recaps of historical people of interest were a nice break from the history portions. I did hope for more dog & cat medicine, since there was quite a bit large animal (horses and cattle stories) but overall enjoyable for anyone interested in the field.

As a future vet (I'll be off to vet school this september if my a-levels go well!), this immediately piqued my interest. Before reading, I knew absoluely nothing about the history of veterinary medicine, but this book definitely helped remedy that!
I really enjoyed the structure of considering one particular historical figure at a time and delving into how their life reflected the state of veterinary medicine at the time. It gave a really nice sense of progression and some of the people mentioned really were incredible. Take Maria von Maltzan for example: one of the first female vets, treated people's animals for free and also saved many lives during the holocaust by smuggling jewish people out of the country in furntiture. I wish her autobiography was translated in English. I also appreciated the variety of people mentioned: this isn't eurocentric retelling. There are figures and stories of veterinary medicine from all over the world.
The style of 'fictionalised' short stories before each discussion of the history was unusual and took getting used to, but gave the book something unique and special to make it much more engaging. The conversational tone won't be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it- it felt a bit like I was sitting in an auditorium listening to a talk!
I think my only complaint is that it was too short! It felt very much like a 'snapshot' view, which is valid for this kind of book but I was defintely hungering for more at the end. Ah well, to the 'further reading' section I go!
This is definitely worth a read if you're at all interested in veterinary medicine or just our relationship with animals as a whole. I've definitely come away with a lot of facts and information that I'll be quoting at my family throughout the coming months (whether they like it or not!).

I loved this book. Dr. Schott writes with a conversational tone and with lots of humour. I liked how he introduced each era of veterinary medicine with an illustrative story; this helped put everything into context. Even the acknowledgments were worth reading. I think this book will be a great read for anyone interested in the history of science, including the history of medicine. Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for the advance reader copy.

I was searching through NetGalley (still trying to get my ratio to 95%) when I came across "Heal the Beasts" by Philip Schott. And I was immediately intrigued by it for no easily discernible reason. This is a (very abridged) history of veterinary medicine, from ancient times to today. The formatting is simple: the author sets of up a little scene of a character caring for animals. Then gives the true facts behind that person (or the kind of people that person represented) and the reasoning behind their actions. And I loved that formatting.

As someone with a Bachelors in History, I get iffy when people start fictionalizing in historic accounts, because it's so easy for the average person to take it at face value. But the format works wonders here, as the author would cite the specific sources he used to come up with what they were saying or doing. And he admitted when he couldn't be sure if that specific event had taken place. It was more a way to demonstrate veterinary tactics in a narrative, before the dryer information took over.

Although the information wasn't that dry. The author seemed to understand exactly what kind of little facts someone on the outside of the profession would be interested in. Like the fact that the man who first used the term "veterinarian" in a document also provided testimony in a witch trial (fuck that guy.) Or the fact that English vets were called by the type of animal they helped, followed by the word "leech." Like cow-leech or dog-leech. You can tell a non-fiction is good when you suddenly have a pile of trivia you want to unload on someone.

What I particularly enjoyed was the level of compassion the author had for the people caring for animals throughout history. True, some of the treatments were completely absurd. But he pointed out when there was actual scientific basis for the treatment (like how wine has antiseptic properties) and how they were doing the best they could. But also called out when the early vets weren't the best people (again, fuck that guy.)

I was happy that the book featured a much more global approach to animal care. From India to the Indigenous peoples of North America. It focused on how all peoples of all times and cultures had reasons to want to care for animals in their own way. It gave the book a very warm vibe.

The only real downside was the jumping around nature of the narrative. Trying to fit such a giant amount of history and culture in a very short book (the NetGalley copy was 220 pages) made for a lot of jumping around in year and place. It made thing more difficult to follow in a grander narrative sense, though I'm not sure how this could have been smoothed out without narrowing the focus.

All in all, a great nonfiction for animal and weird-history lovers alike!