Pickering Chatto Publishers

Historical and Anthropological Investigations of Place and HealthHealth is formed, nurtured, lived and denied in a surrounding environment. Worldwide, people seek out places that provide the right conditions for good health. The meanings attributed to health or illness however are socially constructed, and so provide an interesting arena for...

Political Cultures of Health in Modern EuropeFollowing the Second World War, health was defined by a number of international organizations as a universal human right. It was this fundamental principle that led to the development of modern-day systems of collective funding, and health is now at the top of the global political agenda. The essays in...

The Development of Social InsuranceOver the last twenty years, historians have become increasingly interested in the role of non-state organizations in the development of welfare services. This study is particularly focused on the role of friendly societies and other insurance bodies in the provision of aid for the elderly and the sick. Essays...

'The North' is more than just a geographical area. It is a place of cold and hardship on the one hand and of welcome solitude and opportunity on the other - a place requiring adaptation and compromise. The medical practitioners responsible for providing healthcare to the populations of these regions endured the daily hardships of...

Early modern perceptions of old age are dominated by medicine's inability to treat the diseases associated with growing old. This book takes a thematic look at the historical roots of the debate surrounding this process. Though very much a medically-oriented study, this history also covers material of literary, religious and legal derivation....

Scratching the SurfaceDiseases affecting the skin have tended to provoke a response of particular horror in society. With obvious and sometimes repellant outward signs of malady, they were often perceived to be highly contagious, as well as synonymous with immorality. Such connotations may have stemmed from the tell-tale buboes of syphilis, but the...