Title: The doctor dissected
Description: A series of bizarre disappearances filled the citizens of early nineteenth-century Scotland with terror. When the perpetrators were finally apprehended in 1828, their motive roiled the nation: William Burke and William Hare had murdered for profit. The cadavers supplied a ready payout, courtesy of Dr. Robert Knox, who was desperate for anatomical subjects. Nearly two hundred years later, these scandalous murders continue to fire imagination in Scotland and beyond.
Subjects: Scottish authors, Crime in popular culture, English literature, Literature and history, Murder in mass media, National characteristics, Scottish, in literature, History and criticism, Homicide, Grave Robbing, History, Autopsy, In mass media, Body snatching, Murder, Collective memory, Scottish literature
Places: Scotland
People: William Burke (1792-1829), William Hare (1792?-1870?)