Blood and Guts

This fascinating, witty and often shocking book by one of Britain's greatest medical historian explores the many ingenious ways in which we have fought disease over the ages in our ongoing quest for immortality. Roy Porter examines the changing role of doctors, from ancient healers, apothecaries and blood-letters to today's professionals; looks at the drugs we have used, from Ayurvedic remedies to the launch of Viagra in 1998; follows the huge advances in surgery, from amputations performed by barbers without anaesthetic to today's sophisticated transplants; and shows how hospitals have been transformed from Christian places of convalescence to modern medical powerhouses. He concludes that, as Westerners lead longer and healthier lives in the twenty-first century, our worries about illness and mistrust of medics seem to be greater than ever. Startlingly illustrated and informed by a lifetime's knowledge, 'Blood & Guts' is an enlightening study of a subject that unites us all.