Making the monster: the science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Two hundred years ago, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein hit the shelves for the first time. For modern-day readers the tale of Victor and his unfortunate monster is a classic horror story, a masterpiece of gothic fiction. But for readers from the first half of the 19th century it would have touched on much more acute real-life fears. In Making the monster Kathryn Harkup puts you into those readers’ – and Shelley’s – mindsets, as she sets out the social, political and scientific issues of the day.