Disease, Medicine and Society in England, 15501860 (New Studies in Economic and Social History, Series Number 3)

In his short but authoritative study, Roy Porter assesses the impact of disease on the English before the widespread availability and public provision of medical care, incorporating into the revised edition new perspectives offered by recent research. He examines the medical profession, attitudes to doctors and disease, and the development of state involvement in public health. Drawing together much fragmentary material and providing a detailed bibliography, this book is an important guide to the history of medicine and to English social history. In his short but authoritative study, Roy Porter examines the impact of disease upon the English and their responses to it before the widespread availability and public provision of medical care. Professor Porter incorporates into the revised second edition new perspectives offered by recent research into provincial medical history, the history of childbirth, and women's studies in the social history of medicine. He begins by sketching a picture of the threats posed by disease to population levels and social continuity from Tudor times to the Industrial Revolution, going on to consider the nature and development of the medical profession, attitudes to doctors and disease, and the growing commitment of the state to public health. Drawing together a wide range of often fragmentary material, and providing a detailed annotated bibliography, this book is an important guide to the history of medicine and to English social history In This Book Porter Examines The Impact Of Disease Upon The English And Their Responses To It Before The Public Provision Of Medical Care. He Includes Details From Recent Research Into The History Of Childbirth And Provincial Medical History. 1. Disease, Death And Doctors In Tudor And Stuart England -- 2. The Practice Of Medicine In Early Modern England -- 3. Experiences And Actions: Countering Illness In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries -- 4. Medicine In The Market Economy Of The Georgian Age -- 5. The Medical Profession And The State In The Nineteenth Century -- 6. The Role Of Medicine: What Did It Achieve? Prepared For The Economic History Society By Roy Porter. First Cambridge University Press Edition--t.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 64-76) And Index. In his short, authoritative study, Roy Porter assesses the impact of disease on the English before the widespread availability of medical care. Drawing together much fragmentary material, and providing a detailed bibliography, this book is an important guide to English social history and the history of medicine.