The Cambridge World History of Human Disease [Hardcover]

Kenneth F. Kiple (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521332869 | ISBN-13: 978-0521332866 | Publication Date: January 29, 1993

Combining recent medical discoveries with historical and geographical scholarship, The Cambridge World History of Human Disease traces the concept of disease throughout history and in each major world region. It offers the history and geography of each significant human disease--both historical and contemporary--from AIDS to yellow fever, and touches on the variety of approaches that different medical traditions have used to fight disease. Accessible to laypeople and specialists alike, The Cambridge World History of Human Disease offers an extraordinary glimpse of what is known about human health as the twenty-first century begins. This important book is now being reissued with a fresh new jacket design.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1886, the last time a task of this scale was approached, August Hirsch was able to compile the Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology (New Syndenham Society, 1883-86) on his own; now, because of the knowledge explosion, it has taken 150 authors. In an attempt to provide an exhaustive and definitive world history of human disease and to document the present state of knowledge for the future, editor Kiple has brought together contributions from medical specialists, historians, anthropologists, and other researchers. Emphasis, however, is on Western medicine. Divided into eight parts, the volume consists of 218 chapters, each two to 15 pages in length, written by specialists but easily accessible to lay readers. Each article is followed by an extensive and useful bibliography. Part 1 offers an overview of the history of disease from prehistory to the present. Part 2 covers human understanding of the concept of disease. Part 3 chronicles genetics and the rise of nontraditional Western specialties such as chiropractic medicine and public health projects. Part 4 presents a demographic approach to disease. Parts 5 through 7 look at disease from a geographical perspective. Part 8, a little more than half the book at 560 pages, is a detailed description of the history and present state of 158 separate diseases, from AIDS to yellow fever. This is an ideal source for reference questions, term papers, hard research data, and clinical background. Highly recommended.
- Eric D. Albright, Galter Health Sciences Lib., Northwestern Univ., Chicago
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Medical geography and the role that pathogens have played in shaping history are increasingly of interest to researchers. For example, scholars study how the diseases brought to the Americas by the explorers shaped the future of this part of the world.

The last time an attempt was made to document disease as a maker of history was in the nineteenth century, when August Hirsch published his Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology. The Cambridge World History of Human Disease updates what was recorded more than a century ago. It is both a history and an encyclopedia of disease. The first seven sections present the history; section 8 is the encyclopedia of "Major Human Diseases Past and Present." Each chapter in these sections is separately authored and provides interesting accounts of research findings.

The first four sections provide background information on concepts of disease, special categories of diseases, and methods of measuring health. The next three discuss disease in different parts of the world during different periods of time (e.g., "Diseases of Antiquity in Japan," "Diseases of the Islamic World"). The remaining half of the book covers individual diseases from AIDS to yellow fever. Coverage is not limited to infectious diseases. There are entries on Down syndrome, epilepsy, and hypertension, for example. For each is provided information on clinical manifestations, distribution, cause, and treatment. The final part of each entry discusses the history and medical geography of the disease: how widespread it was during recorded history, and how and why it spread. This part of the book is fascinating reading for the educated layperson. Extensive bibliographies of medical literature are found at the end of each chapter. Distribution maps are provided for some diseases, tables or charts for others.

Personal-name and subject indexes conclude the book. A useful aspect of the name index is that thumbnail biographical sketches are provided for the more prominent scientists. The subject index is detailed, providing a multitude of access points.

This monumental compilation should serve as a starting point for anyone working in medical geography or the history of medicine. As a reference book, the encyclopedic portion will be quite useful in academic and large public libraries.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1200 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 29, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521332869
• ISBN-13: 978-0521332866
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,782,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Reference Source, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease (Hardcover)

This tome is exhaustive in the diseases it covers and the way it covers them. Kiple provides epidemiological patterns, history and geography, and skeletal manifestations on each of the conditions he and the board of editors describes. What the book lacks in pictures and diagrams, it makes up for in length and completeness of description. A helpful bibliography is provided. This book is well worth the price!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of history of medicine, December 2, 2009

By 

Balakumar Pandian (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease (Hardcover)

Great book, well thought out. The initial part of the book is chapters and essays on different topics. One critique I have is that the chapters and topics are very much individual entities and do not really flow from one chapter to another. It would be a bit difficult to trace the history of medicine in timeline fashion if you were to read this book. However, I don't think that is really the purpose of the book, and the essays themselves are quite interesting. The second part of the book is disease specific histories, which are pretty good, but a bit inconsistent in depth. Some diseases' histories are documented thoroughly and others are much more "general" in nature. Probably a reflection of the fact that they are written by different people. Nonetheless, a great resource and reference to have in any medical history library.

4.0 out of 5 stars not much in the way of psychiatric information, August 27, 2011

By 

Caleb Armstrong "0men" (Tauranga, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease (Hardcover)

very good info about a lot of epidemics, etc, but could have been influenced by spiritual and traditional understandings of psychiatric disease such as pellagra or tertiary syphilis - very good info about other cultural influences available to make good decisions about the future, what's worth retaining vs what needs to be controlled by young people