Product Description

Against the backdrop of an unprecedented concern for health today, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine not only surveys the rise of medicine in the West from earliest times to the present day, but also glimpses into the future. It is written by a team of experts co-ordinated by one of the most distinguished and prolific writers and researchers into the history of medicine, Professor Roy Porter. Both authoritative and accessible, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine is the only serious choice for a reader wanting a lively and informative single-volume introduction to medical history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55929 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-30
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
‘We have come to expect from the Cambridge Illustrated History series informative and elegantly produced volumes, and this one on the history of medicine lives up to expectations.’ Isis

‘The book immerses the reader in the history of one of the noblest and earliest professions. It will be valuable for those in need of references or photographs for lectures or as a gift for a physician … could serve well as a compelling textbook for medical-school courses … The book is one of unique richness.’ The New England Journal of Medicine

'… every hospital library should have a copy.' AcpNews

'Previously published in hardback, this new reprint of an easy readable text, with many illustrations, partly in color, is a pleasure to read. Note the low price - A real bargain!' Pediatric Endocrinology Reviews

About the Author
Roy Porter is Professor in the Social History of Medicine at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London, and has taught previously at the University of Cambridge and at UCLA. Among his many influential books in the field are Mind Forg’d Manacles: Madness in England from the Restoration to the Regency; A Social History of Madness; Health for Sale: Quackery in England, 1660–1850; Doctor of Society: Thomas Beddoes and the Sick Trade in Late Enlightenment England; London: A Social History; and (co-authored with Dorothy Porter) In Sickness and in Health: the British Experience, 1650–1850 and Patient’s Progress.

Customer Reviews

An excellent and clear summary of this fascinating subject.
This lavishly illustrated book gives an in depth introduction to this fascinating if at times gruesome area of knowledge. It has been edited by Sir Roy Porter, Professor for the History of Medicine at University College, London and one of the county's leading academics on this subject. The ten chapters have been written with clarity and authority by a range of acknowledged experts, including Roy Porter himself and they manage to maintain the level of interest throughout.

The topics covered range form the history of disease itself, based upon archaeology and ancient written sources through to the development of our modern understanding of how disease should be treated. The final chapter written by Geoff Watts looks at the most modern developments and suggests where medical science may lead us in the future.

All sections of the book are beautifully illustrated with both contemporary engravings and paintings and modern photographs. There is a thorough bibliography and index and these make the book an even more valuable resource, which should be present in all secondary school and college libraries.

CLEAR AND CONCISE
THIS IS A VERY CLEAR AND WELL EDITED OVERVIEW TO MEDICAL HISTORY WHICH IS VERY NICELY ILLUSTRATED THROUGHOUT. I FOUND IT PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR BOTH MY WORK (I TEACH AT A MEDICAL SCHOOL) AND MY OWN PERSONAL INTEREST. UNFORTUNATELY, ROY PORTER IS NO LONGER WITH US TO CARRY ON THE GOOD WORK. THERE IS AN EXCELLENT BIBLOGRAPHY IF ANYONE SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN FURTHER READING.

Interesting information, very readable, covers only Western
This book covers much of the history of Western medicine. It glances through some of the fields of the medicine separately, and in general does not advance year-by-year, or pay much attention to outline large number of developments in medicine. Rather it is collection of almost essay like chapters on various topics, like psychiatry, or history of disease, for instance. This makes the book very readable, something that does not demand you complete attention, yet it also leaves one craving for more. Especially since this book covers only history of Western medicine, and (practically) does not address Egyptian or Indian medicine at all. Of course this is justifiable in the sense that the story authors are trying to tell is about how Western medicine came to be, and there is little useful in ancient medicine. Nevertheless, it would have been interesting to have a peak at the worse-than-useless ancient practises out of historical interest.

The most captivating part of this book really tells the story of how patients became less and less satisfied when medicine could actually do more and more for them, and turned instead to alternative treatments that could do nothing to cure them of their diseases but whose practisers could give them comfort and false hopes.

I would like to give this book 3,5 stars, but this is not possible. An easy-to-read book with a collection of interesting essays. Does not give that good a picture about temporal development of the whole field of medicine, but tells many interesting stories. I would recommend this book to interested reader's of general public and those physicians and medical students who wish to know something about the history of medicine.