Curing their Ills traces the history of encounters between European medicine and African societies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Vaughan's detailed examination of medical discourse of the period reveals its shifting and fragmented nature, highlights its use in the creation of the colonial subject in Africa, and explores the conflict between its pretensions to scientific neutrality and its political and cultural motivations. The book includes chapters on the history of psychiatry in Africa, on the treatment of venereal diseases, on the memoirs of European 'Jungle Doctors', and on mission medicine. In exploring the representations of disease as well as medical practice, Curing their Ills makes a fascinating and original contribution to both medical history and the social history of Africa.
Nineteenth-Century Europe offers a much-needed concise and fresh look at European culture between the Great Revolution in France and the First World War. It encompasses all major themes of the period, from the rising nationalism of the early nineteenth century to the pessimistic views of fin de siècle. It is a lucid, fluent presentation that appeals to both students of history and culture and the general audience interested in European cultural history. The book attempts to see the culture of the nineteenth century in broad terms, integrating everyday ways of life into the story as mental, material and social practices. It also highlights ways of thinking, mentalities and emotions in order to construct a picture of this period of another kind, that goes beyond a story of “isms” or intellectual and artistic movements. Although the nineteenth century has often been described as a century of rising factory pipes and grey industrial cities, as a cradle of modern culture, the era has many faces. This book pays special attention to the experiences of contemporaries, from the fear for steaming engines to the longing for the pre-industrial past, from the idle calmness of bourgeois life to the awakening consumerism of the department stores, from curious exoticism to increasing xenophobia, from optimistic visions of future to the expectations of an approaching end. The century that is only a few generations away from us is strange and familiar at the same time – a bygone world that has in many ways influenced our present day world.
This book challenges the reputation of the Spanish Inquisition as an instrument of religious persecution, torture and repressionand looks at its wider role as an educative force in society. A reassessment of the history of the Spanish Inquisition. Challenges the reputation of the Inquisition as an instrument of religious persecution, torture and repression. Looks at the wider role of the Inquisition as an educative force in society. Draws on the findings of recent research by American, British and European scholars. Includes original documentary evidence in translation.
The Emergence of Monasticism offers a new approach to the subject, placing its development against the dynamic of both social and religious change. First study in any language to cover the formative period of medieval monasticism. Gives particular attention to the contribution of women to ascetic and monastic life.
This book illuminates Warwick's character and motivation, showing that he was an emotional, charming, and popular man with a strong sense of family loyalty. It is the first full study of this compelling figure within the context of political life in late medieval England.
Spain, 1157-1300 makes use of a vast body of primary and secondary source material to provide a balanced overview of a crucial period of Spanish as well as of European history. Examines the most significant phase of Spanish mainland development Considers the profound intellectual consequences of Christian advances into Islamic Spain Explores the varying fortunes of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, and focuses on the reign of the learned Alfonso X of Castile Utilizes the vast body of primary and secondary source material published over the past 30 years
Who were the scientific geniuses behind some of the most innovative and important discoveries in modern medicine? Medical science in the 21st century is continuing to advance, but the character of that advancement is now governed by research teams and committees. Yet in the 19th century – a century when there were many great individual discoveries in medicine – the contributions of four individuals in particular accelerated developments in each of the main branches of medicine. This medical history by Thomas Dormandy focuses on these four individuals and their «moments of truth» – Laennec, a French physician; Semmelweis, a Hungarian obstetrician; Lister, a Scottish surgeon; and Walter Reed, an American army pathologist. They are not well known, compared with their contemporaries in other walks of life, yet their moments of truth transformed the lives of millions. Thomas Dormandy is a retired consultant pathologist (MD, PhD, DSc, FRCS, FRCPath). He is the author of over 300 scientific papers and two books aimed at a general readership, The White Death: A History of Turberculosis , which was short listed for the Aventis prize and RMS book of the month, and Old Masters, a work of art history.
The 17th Century Parisian doctor who made blood transfusion history… In 1667 a Parisian doctor by the name of Jean-Baptiste Denis performed an operation that had never previously been attempted – he transfused blood into another human being. This was the first attempt at a procedure that over subsequent centuries was to save the lives of thousands of people. But at the time Denis was nearly convicted of murder. The victim of Denis's experiment was a middle-aged man suffering from mad rages. Denis believed that by transfusing the blood of a calf into the man the man would assume the placid nature of the calf. The experiment appeared to work. The highly toxic blood made the man in question very ill and therefore very placid. It is now believed that the man was in fact suffering from syphilis, which induced his violent behaviour. The symptoms of the syphilis would also have been relieved by the high fever that the toxic blood would have induced. Encouraged by this apparent success, though unaware of the reasons for it, many other people attempted similar experiments. Eventually the man died and Denis was arrested for his murder. Further investigations revealed however that the man had not in fact died from the blood transfusion (although he certainly would have done so very shortly) but from cyanide placed in his food by his wife. Giving an insight into the first attempts at a procedure that has gone on to be developed for the benefit of humanity, and into the symbolism of blood throughout the history of medicine, Blood and Justice raises ethical issues that are as relevant today as they were at the time.
Receiving widespread critical acclaim when first published, Ireland 1798-1998 has been revised to include coverage of the most recent developments. Jackson’s stylish and impartial interpretation continues to provide the most up-to-date and important survey of 200 years of Irish history. A new edition of this highly acclaimed history of Ireland, reflecting both the very latest political developments and growth of scholarship Jackson provides a balanced and authoritative account of the complex political history of modern Ireland Draws on original research and extensive reading of the latest secondary literature Jackson provides an impressive treatment of events coupled with flowing narrative, delivered analytically and elegantly
An in-depth exploration, through his plays and poems, of the philosophy of Shakespeare as a great poet, a great dramatist and a «great mind». Written by a leading Shakespearean scholar Discusses an array of topics, including sex and gender, politics and political theory, writing and acting, religious controversy and issues of faith, skepticism and misanthropy, and closure Explores Shakespeare as a great poet, a great dramatist and a «great mind»