Pale Faces: The Masks of Anemia

Who would have thought that something so commonplace as iron deficiency would lead to prehistoric ochre, Egyptian amulets, Renaissance alchemy, Victorian projections of maidenhood, and the astrophysical end of everything?

Whether mild or deadly, anemia affects an essential body fluid: blood. In Pale Faces, Charles L. Bardes probes deeply into this illness as metaphor by exploring the impact of both science and culture on its treatment across the ages. His innovative “life” of this condition ...