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Through the Darkness: Glimpses into the History of Western Medicine
The fascinating history of medicine in Europe is filled with curious, often bizarre, strange, and gruesome cures, enthusiastically espoused by physicians and other medical practitioners of the times. Repulsive and disgusting examples of ‘medications’ often dominated treatment directives and many proposed cures were all but useless, highly dangerous and even lethal.
This book explores compelling, and at times shocking facts, offering select glimpses into the journey of Western medicine ‘through the darkness’. Guaranteed to astound, interest and occasionally make one shudder at what constituted orthodox therapeutic observances of the past, the author highlights diverse medical practices, as well as dreaded diseases.
Ever mindful of not lapsing into what historians have called ‘the enormous condescension of posterity’, the book serves as an exposition on the 'growing pains' of a field born of supposition, and reared in a milieu of theocracy and superstition, before finally emerging as the modern science of medicine we know today.
This book explores compelling, and at times shocking facts, offering select glimpses into the journey of Western medicine ‘through the darkness’. Guaranteed to astound, interest and occasionally make one shudder at what constituted orthodox therapeutic observances of the past, the author highlights diverse medical practices, as well as dreaded diseases.
Ever mindful of not lapsing into what historians have called ‘the enormous condescension of posterity’, the book serves as an exposition on the 'growing pains' of a field born of supposition, and reared in a milieu of theocracy and superstition, before finally emerging as the modern science of medicine we know today.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
363 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2016
11 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Monica-Maria Stapelberg
4 books1 followerHi, I’m Monica-Maria Stapelberg and I am fascinated by the human condition, how we form the beliefs we hold about ourselves, our culture and our traditions – what was their genesis? Having several medical professionals in my immediate family I also became interested in the medical and psychiatric conditions that ail us and the early history of those professions. The more I delved into this subject-matter the more I became utterly fascinated with it.
I write non-fiction and have written books on the origins of commonly held beliefs and traditions in various cultures (Old Wives' Tales?, Curious and Curiouser! and Strange but True), followed by a book on ‘glimpses’ into the history of medicine (Through the Darkness) and a very early history of psychiatry and mental health care (The Stone of Folly).
Readers will discover work that reflects a diverse background born of growing up in multiple countries and fuelled by a passion for different cultures. I enjoyed a childhood filled with adventure and differing cultural experiences, growing up in Argentina, India, Guatemala, Germany, South Africa and later emigrating to Australia. I live on the east coast of Australia with my family.
My books were originally intended as academic works and are written in a scholarly style, yet they make interesting and compelling reading for a wide range of readers, specifically those interested in the broad but detailed scope of historic aspects of our beliefs and traditions, as well as in medicine and mental health care.
I sincerely hope you enjoy reading my books!
I write non-fiction and have written books on the origins of commonly held beliefs and traditions in various cultures (Old Wives' Tales?, Curious and Curiouser! and Strange but True), followed by a book on ‘glimpses’ into the history of medicine (Through the Darkness) and a very early history of psychiatry and mental health care (The Stone of Folly).
Readers will discover work that reflects a diverse background born of growing up in multiple countries and fuelled by a passion for different cultures. I enjoyed a childhood filled with adventure and differing cultural experiences, growing up in Argentina, India, Guatemala, Germany, South Africa and later emigrating to Australia. I live on the east coast of Australia with my family.
My books were originally intended as academic works and are written in a scholarly style, yet they make interesting and compelling reading for a wide range of readers, specifically those interested in the broad but detailed scope of historic aspects of our beliefs and traditions, as well as in medicine and mental health care.
I sincerely hope you enjoy reading my books!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 19, 2019
Very well researched
Varied examples of medical history spanning 1000's of years. While no one book can distill the entire history of medicine and medical procedures since the likes of Hippocrates and Pliny et. al., started writing about it, this book is a very interesting and informative starting point.
Varied examples of medical history spanning 1000's of years. While no one book can distill the entire history of medicine and medical procedures since the likes of Hippocrates and Pliny et. al., started writing about it, this book is a very interesting and informative starting point.
July 5, 2020
A thorough history of Medicine.......
This was well written and easily understood but I found that there were an astounding amount of footnotes, over 1000, and surely some of these could be incorporated into the body of the text. If I checked out the footnotes, it was distracting to the flow of the text. Some were references to the source books, but some were ‘side stories’.
This was well written and easily understood but I found that there were an astounding amount of footnotes, over 1000, and surely some of these could be incorporated into the body of the text. If I checked out the footnotes, it was distracting to the flow of the text. Some were references to the source books, but some were ‘side stories’.
September 10, 2023
I love these kind of books. I was so interesting reading about medical care from before the dark ages until the early 1900’s. It is very interesting to read about how physicians cured or should I say used as a cure for many problems. Some remedies made me laugh while others made me cringe.
It gives one a glimpse into how far we have come. Not a quick read for me but certainly kept me reading.
It gives one a glimpse into how far we have come. Not a quick read for me but certainly kept me reading.
October 5, 2022
So, so interesting!! The editing is atrocious though!
October 15, 2018
A history of of medicine in Europe, very well researched and covering the bizarre medical practices and beliefs that were the precursor of modern medicine.
Some snippets of information as examples ....
I knew about the custom of bleeding, with leeches or otherwise. I knew about the practice of body-snatching to provide medical schools with subjects for dissection. But I didn't know that human and animal faeces and urine were used in medical treatments and compounds - not only for external application but to take internally as well. Or that people would crowd and jostle around executioners' blocks to obtain fresh body parts to help with various ailments, or fresh blood for the treatment of epilepsy. (Apparently particularly prized was the blood of royalty - hence the frantic scramble of the crowd to obtain drops or even small smears of Charles II's blood when he was executed.) Or that human skulls were especially prized for various medical purposes - being ground up to powder for various medications. Those with moss growing on them were especially expensive, because of the healing properties of the skull-moss itself.
Chapters on childbirth and women's health were intriguing too. For example I didn't know that it wasn't until 1930 the medical profession made a connection between menstruation and ovulation!
There were also many intriguing details in chapters on epidemics such as the Black Death, leprosy and syphilis. And I hadn't known it was centuries before people knew how to tell if someone was actually dead - cases of being buried alive, or almost buried alive were frequent, leading to 'hospitals for the dead' (across Europe, but more common in Germany) where bodies were left for several days to ensure they were actually dead .. with bells or other signalling devices attached so any movement would be detected. And certain German mortuaries used signalling devices as late as the 1940s!
These are just a very few examples of the information to be gleaned from reading Monica-Maria Stapelberg's book.
If I have one complaint it's that tighter editing is needed - occasional misspellings jarred, and there was some repetition of information (or even text copy) in a few places, no doubt because of the 'overlapping' of facts related to the different sections of the book.
However I'd recommend this book as well-worth reading all the same. Though not perfect, the writing style flows well and is an easy read. The book also contains a wealth of information that has been meticulously researched.
Some snippets of information as examples ....
I knew about the custom of bleeding, with leeches or otherwise. I knew about the practice of body-snatching to provide medical schools with subjects for dissection. But I didn't know that human and animal faeces and urine were used in medical treatments and compounds - not only for external application but to take internally as well. Or that people would crowd and jostle around executioners' blocks to obtain fresh body parts to help with various ailments, or fresh blood for the treatment of epilepsy. (Apparently particularly prized was the blood of royalty - hence the frantic scramble of the crowd to obtain drops or even small smears of Charles II's blood when he was executed.) Or that human skulls were especially prized for various medical purposes - being ground up to powder for various medications. Those with moss growing on them were especially expensive, because of the healing properties of the skull-moss itself.
Chapters on childbirth and women's health were intriguing too. For example I didn't know that it wasn't until 1930 the medical profession made a connection between menstruation and ovulation!
There were also many intriguing details in chapters on epidemics such as the Black Death, leprosy and syphilis. And I hadn't known it was centuries before people knew how to tell if someone was actually dead - cases of being buried alive, or almost buried alive were frequent, leading to 'hospitals for the dead' (across Europe, but more common in Germany) where bodies were left for several days to ensure they were actually dead .. with bells or other signalling devices attached so any movement would be detected. And certain German mortuaries used signalling devices as late as the 1940s!
These are just a very few examples of the information to be gleaned from reading Monica-Maria Stapelberg's book.
If I have one complaint it's that tighter editing is needed - occasional misspellings jarred, and there was some repetition of information (or even text copy) in a few places, no doubt because of the 'overlapping' of facts related to the different sections of the book.
However I'd recommend this book as well-worth reading all the same. Though not perfect, the writing style flows well and is an easy read. The book also contains a wealth of information that has been meticulously researched.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews