The Land of the Hunger Artists

Agustí Nieto-Galan is Professor of History of Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), ICREA Acadèmia Fellow, and director of the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (iHC) at the UAB.

• Introduction; 1. Geographies; 2. Performances; 3. Experiments; 4. Spirits; 5. Elixirs; 6. Politics; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

'Agustí Nieto-Galan's book offers the first in-depth and scholarly account of the hunger artists of Italy after unification. Drawing on the rich body of texts, images, and goods that marked the spectacular fasts of these individuals on their global trajectories, he skillfully balances the perspectives of rapt publics, doubting doctors, enthusiastic impresarios, and an expanding media culture. Diverse groups of commentators contended over the veracity or fraudulence of the capabilities of their extraordinary bodies, as well as over what profits could be made out of them. In a period that gave rise to most of our modern categories of food requirements and eating disorders, these men came to exemplify both the limits and the potential of nutrition science, both inside and outside the laboratory. A fascinating book that stands at the intersection of many areas of historical interest.' Emma Spary, University of Cambridge