The Healing Arts: Health, Disease and Society in Europe 1500-1800

by Peter Elmer (Editor)

The period from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment constitutes a vital phase in the history of European medicine. Elements of continuity with the classical and medieval past are evident in the persistence of a humor-based view of the body and of illness. At the same time new theories of the body emerged to challenge established ideas in medical circles. In recent years, scholars have explored this terrain with increasingly fascinating results, often revising our previous understanding of issues relating to the way in which early modern Europeans discussed the body, health and disease. In order to understand these and related processes, historians are increasingly aware of the way in which every aspect of medical care and provision in early modern Europe was shaped by the social, religious, political and cultural concerns of the age.

Genres: History, Science, Medicine

456 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 2004

Reviews

[Jupiter Brady-McCullough · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my AP European History Book Report and I liked it a lot. I remember feeling like I was learning reading the whole book (or at least the first half anyway) though I can’t remember anything off the top of my head. It’s really quite an interesting topic, but my main conclusion from having read the book is “Things changed a lot but were mostly the same”. If reading about the intricacies of such a thing doesn’t appeal to you I would recommend against this book. Also, it has a lot of outside articles that are referenced as others have said, but I don’t feel that they’re necessary to gain from having read the book- the authors summarize each article in a little “discussion” thing every chapter so if you read that you’ll be fine :)

[Sohvi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful book for everyone interested in the history of medicine, but this is clearly a course book. It has some exercises and it should be combined with a source book. This was something I didn't know, so I did not have the possibility to read the texts from the source book, referenced at the end of every chapter.