Enlightening & Entertaining

books:


	• Quacks: Fakers & Charlatans in Medicine (Revealing History) Roy Porter Tempus, 2003 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Enlightening & Entertaining

Surprisingly, this book is relatively unknown in medical circles, not to mention the public at large. And yet - the subject matter presented draws so many unmentioned parallels to the situation of "quacks" to be found in modern day.

Roy Porter is a brilliant historian. His form of writing is exceptional. Initially I noticed he would repeat certain information in subsequent chapters and though it was always written differently I wondered "doesn't he know he has already made reference to this?" But then I realized how beneficial this can be to learning. The important points that are repeated are far easier to digest, understand and remember and for those of us afflicted with poor memory, this is a welcome characteristic in a non-fiction book and it appears to be more of an intentional tool than an oversight. Regardless, the amount of original information to be found within this book is immense and as usual, Roy Porter fills his pages with powerful prose that afford such a sweeping field to be explored and grasped. Though I allude to the fact this book should be referenced more within the medical arena - the book is indeed written for the everyman (and woman) and few people will find it a difficult read. I do, however, think it should be mandatory reading for medical students.

_Quacks_ chronicles the highly lucrative occupation of nostrum mongers - traveling across Europe (most notably in Britain) selling potions, philosophies, herbs, and all manner of "cures" for the various ills of society. The tactics they use are rich and entertaining - the pulpit, the monkey, the jester, magic, on-the-spot dental repairs and laying on the hands healing. Some even operated booths outside the Bethlam asylum. The words used in their nostrums are highly imaginative - all competing against the other to attract the laymen and many claiming to be cure-alls with such words as UNIVERSAL. Or somehow advocated by royalty with words like REGAL and IMPERIAL. Advertisements are rich in fonts, language, and illustration - comparable to the sideshow advertisements of a later period.

Porter explores this topic as objectively as possible and points out several "myths" among historians. The line drawn between "real" physicians and quacks is not as clear as we are lead to believe. A person choosing to patronize a quack is not necessarily anti-medical establishment. For those investigating or interested in today's debates between traditional and alternative medicine - there are many lessons to be learned in reading this book. Though it deals mainly with the medieval and middle ages, and more so with the era of enlightenment - the fact that history can repeat itself is made perfectly clear.

The book is richly illustrated. An excellent addition to any library - and more importantly, to any mind.

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If the thought of visiting the doctor or having a spell in the hospital gives most people pause to contemplate their mortality, then such thoughts must pale when compared to the experiences of our ancestors. They were largely at the mercy of a medical fraternity renowned more for the eccentricity of their cures than their efficacy. From the pisse prophets who would gaze upon a patient?s urine to establish the most accurate diagnosis, to the pushers of such remedies as ?Walkers Jesuit Drops? to cure venereal disease, Quacks is a thrilling history of opportunists, charlatans, conmen, some deludedly sincere doctors, and?ultimately?of our own enduring credulity.

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