Bivins, Roberta E., 1970- and Pickstone, John V., eds. (2007) Medicine, madness, and social history : essays in honour of Roy Porter. Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230235359

Abstract

Roy Porter was a brilliant historian of medicine and madness. He was the British authority on the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, but he wore his learning lightly. He died, far too young, in 2002. This collection of essays was written by twenty of his colleagues and students, not just to honour his memory but to convey and extend the spirit of his work. All the essays are based on orginal work in the fields that Porter made his own. They range from the eighteenth century to the present, and tackle major themes, from disability rights to the popularization of science. However, the focus, for the most part, is on people - artisan gardeners jostle with anarchists, dentists and hypnotists in a lively, and very Porterian, parade. Medicine may sometimes seem techinical and remote, but this collection brings it to life through its social history.

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