The Great American Medicine Show: Being an Illustrated History of Hucksters, Healers, Health Evangelists and Heroes from Plymouth Rock to the Present [Paperback]

David Armstrong (Author), Elizabeth Metzger Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1991

A rip-roaring grand parade of the American medical sideshow, from the early crusaders through today's health gurus. It is an illustrated history of hucksters, healers, health evangelists and heroes, plus a compendium of remedies from Fletcherizing to phrenology. 120 illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This extensively illustrated, whimsically categorized, and wittily written compendium is distinctly oriented toward the bizarre, the ridiculous, the unusual, and the sublime: for every medical hero here, there are a dozen or more goats. As such, it is not a reference of first resort for information about the successes of medical progress, but rather an often funny, occasionally eye-opening, and clever gathering of misbegotten theory, outright fraud, and zealous charlatanism. Hidden within are good overviews of medicine shows, osteopathy, physical fitness, and dieting. Most of the information is historical and anecdotal, and the bibliography is thorough. This is for popular history of medicine collections.
- Mark L. Shelton, Athens, Ohio
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall General; 1st edition (November 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0133640272
• ISBN-13: 978-0133640274
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #986,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Readable Gem!, September 15, 2010

By 

Jerome Whitney (London, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great American Medicine Show: Being an Illustrated History of Hucksters, Healers, Health Evangelists and Heroes from Plymouth Rock to the Present (Paperback)

This is a very readable well-researched, well-written, and well-referenced summary of alternative medicine history in the USA. It is unfortunate that the authors and publisher felt compelled to give it an inappropriate title in order to increase sales to a sceptical public.

It is particularly relevant for those who wish to gain an insight into the 19th century holistic therapeutic systems that remain in active practice in the 21st century: the contribution and legacy of Mesmer, Osteopathy, Chiropractic, Homeopathy, etc.

It is these very same therapeutic systems and their many off-shoots, that have since emerged, to which the public has been turning, on a mass scale, since the end of the 20th century.