Blood and Guts

We may grumble about our health service, but an hour or two spent with this astonishing book makes us realize just how blessed we are compared to the poor souls of a few centuries ago. Go to your GP now with a bout of depression and he'll like as not prescribe some pills. Back in the 18th century he would probably have fired a musket close to your ear to shock you out of your mood. Headachy or otherwise under the weather? In the good old days that would have called for a covering of leeches, along with a strong purgative to turn your bowels to jelly. And those were the more kindly treatments. A glance at some of the hilarious (and hair-raising) contemporary illustrations shows better than anything what the title of this book really means: leg amputations without anaesthetic, horrendous implements inserted into eye-watering places, multitudes of 'surgeons' smothering victims in the name of tender loving care. Roy Porter, whose last book this is (he died in March 2002 just after retiring as Professor of Social History at University College, London), looks at the ingenious if shocking ways Western people have coped with and treated diseases from ancient times to the present. In typical forthright style he describes the book as a study of 'the war between disease and doctors fought out on the battleground of the flesh'. The chapters are arranged into categories: disease, doctors, the body, the laboratory, therapies, surgery and the hospital. A brief history is provided of each before we get into the gory bits. This is a fascinating study written with wit and the insight of a consummate social historian. If it's entertainment and knowledge you want, this is just what the doctor ordered. (Kirkus UK)