by Bernard Harris (1995)
This study examines the background to the establishment of the school medical service in 1908 and looks at the full range of economic, social and political factors which influenced its subsequent development. It also examines the history of child health in Britain between 1908 and 1974.
Paul Slack
Between the 16th and the 18th centuries, the character of English social policy and social welfare changed fundamentally. From Reformation to Improvement looks at the intellectual and political roots of this change.
Charles E. Rosenberg
Historian of medicine Rosenberg presents an analysis of the current tensions in American medicine. Situating these tensions within their historical and social contexts, Rosenberg investigates the fundamental characteristics of medicine: how we think about disease, how the medical profession thinks about itself and its moral and intellectual responsibilities, and what prospective patients--all of us--expect from medicine and the medical profession. He explores the nature and definition of disease and how ideas of disease causation reflect social values and cultural negotiations. His analyses of alternative medicine and bioethics consider the historically specific ways in which we define and seek to control what is appropriately medical. At a time when clinical care and biomedical research generate as much angst as they offer cures, this volume provides valuable insight into how the practice of medicine has evolved, where it is going, and how lessons from history can improve its prognosis.--From publisher description.
Mary Nethery
In Venice, Italy, in the 1890s, a stray cat draws attention to a coffee shop after inspiring composer Guiseppi Verdi there, and as the feline's fame grows, the shop's owner entertains royalty, the Pope, and many others. Includes historical notes about the real Nini and his visitors.
Oliver Sacks
Dr. Oliver Sacks's books *Awakenings*, *An Anthropologist on Mars* and the bestselling *The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat* have been acclaimed for their extraordinary compassion in the treatment of patients affected with profound disorders. In *A Leg to Stand On*, it is Sacks himself who is the patient: an encounter with a bull on a desolate mountain in Norway has left him with a severely damaged leg. But what should be a routine recuperation is actually the beginning of a strange medical journey when he finds that his leg uncannily no longer feels part of his body. Sacks's brilliant description of his crisis and eventual recovery is not only an illuminating examination of the experience of patienthood and the inner nature of illness and health but also a fascinating exploration of the physical basis of identity.