Customer Reviews

Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine

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In a sense this is a "lite" version of the late Roy Porter's well-received history of medicine from 1997, entitled The Greatest Benefit to Mankind. He is also the editor of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine (1996) and was until his death professor of social history at University College London.

But let's face it, the history of medicine has not been a pretty story, nor could it have been. Most of history's physicians were flailing about in the dark, the surgeons as sawbones and barbers performing crude amputations and such without the aid of either anaesthetics or disinfectants, the practitioners as faith healers and quacks, dispensing placebos or poisons often without knowing which was which. It wasn't until the late 19th century that the medical profession began to achieve some understanding of the real causes of illness and indeed understand how living things work and how and why they don't work. Porter recalls some of the controversies about the vivisection of cadavers, and arguments about the causes of infectious disease: an argument made difficult because of course the microbes could not be discerned until about the time of Pasteur.

Porter outlines this sobering story from the time of the Greeks to the present day in an objective and easily assimilated style. He organizes the material into eight chapters focusing on Disease, Doctors, The Body, The Laboratory, Therapies, Surgery, The Hospital, and Medicine in Modern Society. Along the way he delves into the politics (some sexual) and into the sociology of medicine around the globe. There are suggestions for Further Reading and an Index.

There are also about 40 rather appalling (some amusing) illustrations from previous centuries in this (for a change) accurately named little tome, showing the horrors of past medical practices. They enliven Porter's text, but you may need a magnifying glass to catch all the nuances--as though you might want to do that!--since some of the prints, while small enough to fit the page are not large enough for the unaided eye.

In short, this is a quick and unsettling read that may make the reader wonder about how future generations will view some of the medical procedures practiced today.

I got this one because I love obscure history and it does not disappoint. Be warned the book is aptly named. It is gristly albeit fascinating. Starting with diseases and ending with modern medicine Porter takes you step by step chronologically through almost all aspects related to healing. He leaves no gall stone unturned (sorry.. couldn't help it.) He does at times get carried away with his terminology, but the book is surprisingly accessible. The author is able to convey the importance of discoveries by setting up what conditions were like before those discoveries were made. Notably some that we take for granted, like the finding and use of vitamins and antibiotics. Quick, enjoyable and well worth getting. This is something I look forward to reading again soon.

Porter provides a short, readable history of Western medicine in this soothingly small book. He uncovers the roots of the medical hegemony, clarifying historical origins of basic assumptions in modern medicine. The author's British perspective provides American students with needed background to understand that the modern concept of scientific, impersonal medicine is very recent indeed. Plenty of facts are woven into the text along with interesting historical prints. A pleasure to read.

This book provides a short history of medicine within Western civilization over the past two millenia. The text is arranged semi-chronologically, with each chapter focusing on a different topic within medicine. Topics that are covered include the hospital, medical equipment, drugs, surgery, health care organizations and delivery, and of course, plagues. The style of the text alternates between text-book, comedic commentary, and newspaper editorial, all of which was dry to read, suitable for someone who likes english sitcoms. The author used very few tables or charts, so there is a paucity of numerical data. Likewise, dates and places are not always mentioned upfront, and the chapters lack abstracts or concluding summaries. In short, this book is meant to be read cover to cover on the beach or by the pool, but is not appropriate for someone really wanting to learn about this topic. The facts presented are interesting, making this book worth reading, but better texts can be found.

First of all, this book is an easy read. Now, don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean the book is not worth reading it, this means just that the author uses a lay language, not much profundity, and this is a short book (specially short for a history of medicine). Anyway, Porter's book treats every epoch in medicine history, if you don't intend to spend much time reading about medicine history, well, this is your book, it's complete, concise and comprehensibly.