Maladies & Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540-1740

by Sara Read

Maladies and Medicine offers a lively exploration of health and medical cures in early modern England. The introduction sets out the background in which the body was understood, covering the theory of the four humors and the ways that male and female bodies were conceptualized. It also explains the hierarchy of healers from university trained physicians, to the itinerant women healers who traveled the country offering cures based on inherited knowledge of homemade remedies. It covers the print explosion of medical health guides, which began to appear in the sixteenth century from more academic medical text books to cheap almanacs.The book has twenty chapters covering attitudes towards, and explanations of some of, the most common diseases and medical conditions in the period and the ways people understood them, along with the steps people took to get better. It explores the body from head to toe, from migraines to gout. It was an era when tooth cavities were thought to be caused by tiny worms and smallpox by an inflammation of the blood, and cures ranged from herbal potions, cooling cordials, blistering the skin, and of course letting blood. Case studies and personal anecdotes taken from doctors notes, personal journals, diaries, letters and even court records show the reactions of individuals to their illnesses and treatments, bringing the reader into close proximity with people who lived around 400 years ago. This fascinating and richly illustrated study will appeal to anyone curious about the history of the body and the way our ancestors lived.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medical

208 pages, ebook

Published July 31, 2017

Reviews

[Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy “Maladies and Medicine,” but it was a struggle to maintain focus and keep my mind from drifting. It’s way more technical than I was expecting and seemed aimed more at professionals than the average lay person. There were some interesting facts in the book, but I can’t recommend it.

This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.

[Annette · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very technical. I don’t see anyone enjoying it as a pleasure read nor using it for a serious medical research. The only use I can see for this book is as one of the sources when someone is writing a school paper.

[Lil's Vintage World · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[The Irregular Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Europe in the 1600s was a strange place to be. Science and empirical data were beginning to subsume old superstition. The invention of the microscope opened up a whole new world to human sight. Discoveries in physics, medicine, and other fields slowly brought Europe into the modern age. But for a time, superstition and science existed as awkward bedfellows. Doctors tried to balance the ancient medical theories of Galen and Hippocrates with new, scientifically gathered data. It is this awkward stage that is front and center in Maladies and Medicine.

This is a straight-up history book. While the authors certainly inject frivolity and humor into the book, this is meant more for the dedicated history buff, and not for the casual reader. Evans and Reed, while admitting to the books limitations in scope (it’s a big topic), include a vast amount of information, conveniently divvied up by disease. The authors also delve into the differences between medical doctors, surgeons, midwives and other practicing women, and the unofficial medical practitioners. Each has their own origin and medical views, and it is curious to see when they agree, disagree, and borrow from one another.

History buffs will find a lot of great information (and a lot of cringe-worthy knowledge) in this book. If you’re interested in medieval history or medical history, this book is a great addition to your TBR. However, if you’re looking for a similar book for a more casual reader, you should check out Quackery by Lydia Kang.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calling all medical historians! I have a little gem here for you. In “Maladies & Medicine” the authors explore the most common complaints of this early modern period and what type of treatments were available to patients at the time. The book is organized in a similar way to how the medical textbooks of the time were arranged. There are four parts, head complaints, abdominal maladies, whole body ailments, and reproductive maladies. Each part is then broken down into common ailments such as headaches, disorderly bowels, gout, and greensickness. While the chapters are relatively short, they are full of information often using quotes from medical texts of the time to explain the maladies and their treatments. Some of these ailments we find have disappeared in our time, smallpox, for instance, while others continue into modern times.

I found this book to be very interesting. It was well organized and covered a wide variety of medical maladies. It is in places a bit gross and I wouldn’t recommend reading this while eating. I also thought that some of the treatments that patients were willing to endure were quite shocking. In addition to the herbal type remedies you would expect from this time period, there were also treatments involving cow dung, and earthworms appeared far too often for my taste. Finally, I appreciated that the authors took the time at the beginning of the book to delineate what the theories of medicine were at the time and how those theories affected the way that doctors treated their patients. A fascinating and well-presented piece of history.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thanks to Pen & Sword for the review copy*

This head-to-toe guide to early modern medicine provides readers with an overview of the maladies and treatments people faced. It is clear that one's social class influenced one's chances of survival in many cases, but some diseases struck indiscriminately (even Elizabeth I was afflicted with smallpox). Of course, some treatments were so gruesome that perhaps it was better to hope for a quick death instead. Read and Evans also explain how the health landscape has shifted over the centuries; for example, during one week in 1665 (a plague season, no less) cancer and drowning accounted for two deaths each, but were outnumbered by over 350 deaths from gastrointestinal issues. Improved hygiene has limited our encounters with fleas, mites, and worms, while global trading and varied diets have made scurvy rare in developed nations. Yet childbirth continues to threaten women's lives, even with the advanced medical interventions now available. This book is a comprehensive read for anyone interested in medicine, as well as those seeking to better understand the lives and deaths of people in the early modern period and how they handled everything from mild ailments to terminal illnesses.

[Tahlia Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Information was provided on past medical practices without a tone of superiority or of judgment. The sometimes desperate attempts to treat diseases during a time before germ theory were dealt with respectfully, as was the stress the era placed on the importance of religious faith in conjunction with medical treatment. The authors provide historical facts & allow readers to form their own opinions… exactly the way history should be presented.

I have perhaps the niche interest in not only English or medical history (although I have those interests as well), but in English medical history as well. I don’t know if this book will be for everybody, especially if you don’t have a nurse’s comfort level of talking/reading about detailed medical topics even while eating. For me, however, this book was a home run; I hope these ladies will collaborate in the future to cover the medical conditions they were unable to touch on in this book.

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Didn't cover every disease/malady of the period, but I'm hoping there will be a sequel, as hinted at at the end. Informative, easy to read and pretty short at only 150-odd pages. Recommended.

[T L Oestmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, a 4 1/2 star choice, but not quite a perfect 5.0

Amazing to me that good science and superstition, groundless nonsense, and quackery could exist at the same time and place and in the SAME PERSON! Thank you for all this interesting information.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Maladies and Medicine" gives a short overview over some of the most important and most well-known diseases of the early modern period. I liked learning more about the various diseases but the writing style wasn't really all that interesting and the chapters weren't really all that well structured.