Raising the Dead is the story of the science of galvanism - named after the Italian scientist Luigi Galvini who had conducted the original experiments - a movement that investigated the theory of 'animal electricity', a unifying vital spirit that animates us all, its leaders believing that they stood on the brink of immortality.
While they ultimately failed in this challenge, their studies mapped out the nervous system and made valuable and enduring contributions to modern-day medical knowledge and understanding - from theorising the concept of the modern-day defibrillator, and 'deep brain stimulus' which is used to treat personality disorders, to experimental procedures involving the use of microchip-controlled devices to bridge damaged spinal nerves.
Andy Dougan is the author of the Sunday Times best-seller, Dynamo: Defending the Honour of Kiev, which was long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and is the author The Hunting Man and acclaimed biographies of Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, and Martin Scorsese. He is a freelance writer based near Glasgow.