The History of Syphilis

by Claude Quétel

From its appearance in Europe at the end of the fifteenth century until its cure with the discovery of penicillin, syphilis has inspired wildly varying--and culturally revealing--theories about its origin, nature, and treatment. In The History of Syphilis, Claude Quétel chronicles five centuries of medical detective work and official management of a virulent disease that quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Quétel's study is a reminder that modern medical science grew not only from inspired genius but also from desperate speculation. Drawing parallels with the current medical and social campaigns against AIDS, Quétel notes that the history of syphilis has a surprisingly contemporary resonance. "Quétel argues that the war against syphilis was never mainly between science and disease. From the very beginning, it was waged between those who sought to preserve syphilis as a scourge on sinners and those who sought its cure."--Wilson Quarterly "In its relation to sex and sin, Quétel demonstrates, syphilis was perhaps the archetypical social disease. The strength of this history is that the author portrays physicians and public officials in a broad social context as they tried to counter popular views of syphilis as being shameful and frightening... Demonstrates that our present concern with AIDS has not shifted this debate significantly."--Journal of the History of Sexuality "This book is two books in one. It traces the history of the medical conceptualizations of syphilis and the attendant therapies for the disease from its first appearance in Europe during the 1490s until the present. But it also charts the cultural representations of syphilis over a period of five hundred years. Contemporary French scholars excel in the study of this aspect of medical history, and Claude Quétel is clearly among the finest."--Historian

Genres: History, Medicine, Nonfiction

342 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1990

Reviews

[Jasmine Dao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was done for my history of medicine class. No cocktail conversation snippets to be had, but reveals the ties that bind culture, politics, religion and medicine very well.
Would read again.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything I could ever hope to know of this dread disease from the French perspective.

[Daniel C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because I am taking a reading class on Fracastoro’s Syphilis, sive de morbo Gallico and I know next to nothing about syphilis. I liked the early chapters which dealt with the 15th and 16th century and mainly cited works in Latin which I could find and peruse. My favorite was the mentulagra by Grunpeck. Unfortunately as the book progressed chronologically and focused mainly on France that that wasn’t so possible and I lost interest but that is the not the fault of the author. However it is one of those books where the author will leave citations in another language with no hint as to what it means. After talking to a physician in the class it appears that many of the Latin words originally used to describes the sickness or its symptoms are still used today: lues, pustulae, verrucae, tabes, roseolae, etc. The last chapter is food for thought in terms of the difference between the terms venereal disease and STD what AIDS actual is in light of those terms. I don’t have much to say about that last bit since I really just bought this book to help me read an odd Latin poem about a significant disease in human history. I picked up some short stories by Maupassant because he was mentioned so that will likely be my next review.

[Alex Broughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive history of syphilis from a (mainly) French perspective. The author avoids unjustified conclusions, such as whether the disease originated in the Americas, by discussing the evidence on both sides. The book seamlessly weaves together scientific and cultural perspectives.

[Victor Raul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una magnifica lectura sobre historia de la medicina.
Historia de la sífilis esta excelente y meticulosamente documentada, bien desarrollada y nos enfrenta a una enfermedad que aun el día de hoy continúa siendo un verdadero flagelo para la humanidad. Desde ahora sera una de las joyas de mi pequeña biblioteca.