Blood and guts : a history of surgery

Today, astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making face transplants, limb transplants and a host of other previously undreamed of operations possible.

But getting here has not been a simple story of selfless men working tirelessly in the pursuit of medical advancement.

Instead it's a bloodstained tale of blunders, arrogance, mishap and murder. In trying to keep us alive, surgeons have all too often killed us off, and life-saving solutions have often come from the most surprising places.

Accompanying a BBC series, Blood and Guts is an incredible story of stolen corpses, medical fraud, lobotomized patients - and every now and then courageous advances that have saved the lives of millions around the world. You may think twice before going under the knife...