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The Surgeon, the Midwife, the Quack: How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England
Discover the remarkable birth of modern medicine.
When we imagine Renaissance medicine, the cliché is dreadful–unsterile instruments, a total lack of anaesthetics and shocking levels of infant and maternal mortality. And that’s before you get into astrology, bloodletting and a litany of bizarre ‘treatments’, more likely to kill than cure…
As ever, the true picture is somewhat different. Here, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, modern medicine began to take shape. Medical education was being formalised for the first time. Through dissections and hands-on experience in war, surgeons were documenting the intricacies of the human body and distributing their work across the continent. And, as European powers expanded their reach into the New World, new medicines and treatments were being discovered and cultivated.
Historian Alanna Skuse ventures into the bustling medical marketplace of Renaissance England–a world of travelling surgeons, prosthetics’ craftsmen, faith healers and, of course, snake oil salesmen. There’s the domestic healer, her kitchen stocked with all manner of herbs, tonics and elixirs, ready to dole out to ailing neighbours; the expert midwife, called upon when the physician and surgeon failed; the trusted apothecary, shop stocked with remedies for every ailment and ingredients from each corner of the globe. Humane and entrancing, The Surgeon, The Midwife, The Quack reveals the miraculous birth of modern medicine.
When we imagine Renaissance medicine, the cliché is dreadful–unsterile instruments, a total lack of anaesthetics and shocking levels of infant and maternal mortality. And that’s before you get into astrology, bloodletting and a litany of bizarre ‘treatments’, more likely to kill than cure…
As ever, the true picture is somewhat different. Here, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, modern medicine began to take shape. Medical education was being formalised for the first time. Through dissections and hands-on experience in war, surgeons were documenting the intricacies of the human body and distributing their work across the continent. And, as European powers expanded their reach into the New World, new medicines and treatments were being discovered and cultivated.
Historian Alanna Skuse ventures into the bustling medical marketplace of Renaissance England–a world of travelling surgeons, prosthetics’ craftsmen, faith healers and, of course, snake oil salesmen. There’s the domestic healer, her kitchen stocked with all manner of herbs, tonics and elixirs, ready to dole out to ailing neighbours; the expert midwife, called upon when the physician and surgeon failed; the trusted apothecary, shop stocked with remedies for every ailment and ingredients from each corner of the globe. Humane and entrancing, The Surgeon, The Midwife, The Quack reveals the miraculous birth of modern medicine.
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Published October 16, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 25, 2026
This was an interesting read — a lively, fact‑packed dive into a variety of medical practices and professions in Stuart England. Skuse’s writing is incredibly engaging and surprisingly funny in places, making the history feel vivid rather than academic. It’s accessible to any reader curious about everyday life in the period, and never once drags or feels dry.
If you’re after a more scholarly deep‑dive, Skuse has other academic texts, but this one is perfect for anyone who wants to learn about life in the past and wants an entertaining narrative while doing so.
If you’re after a more scholarly deep‑dive, Skuse has other academic texts, but this one is perfect for anyone who wants to learn about life in the past and wants an entertaining narrative while doing so.
February 24, 2026
Highly accessible, often entertaining, with companionable narration by Danielle Cohen. With an abiding interest in the topic, there was little new here for me, but i enjoyed it anyway.
What was new will certainly stick with me—like the 14th-century practice of slicing open tiny animals and applying them to the body to “draw out” cancer by luring it to fresh meat. Not every practice is so shocking, but there are, of course, several. I appreciated that the author situates this lay-level history of medicine in the context of time, place, and circumstances.
Imagine... the things we think we know that will prove primitive or barbaric in the future.
What was new will certainly stick with me—like the 14th-century practice of slicing open tiny animals and applying them to the body to “draw out” cancer by luring it to fresh meat. Not every practice is so shocking, but there are, of course, several. I appreciated that the author situates this lay-level history of medicine in the context of time, place, and circumstances.
Imagine... the things we think we know that will prove primitive or barbaric in the future.
January 18, 2026
A very surface level introduction to the 16-18c medical marketplace. Some chapters had great potential to be interesting (e.g mental illness), but lacked engaging content.
February 22, 2026
I enjoyed this book. the level of research and detail is high. at some points my partner and I laughed out loud and will honour the book by getting a plaque made for our "Room of Easement".
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews