2000
First Published
3.76
Average Rating
254
Number of Pages
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.
Avg Rating
3.76
Number of Ratings
41
5 STARS
22%
4 STARS
41%
3 STARS
29%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
2%
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Author
Roy Porter
Author · 22 books
Roy's books cover several fields: the history of geology, London, 18th-Century British ideas and society, medicine, madness, quackery, patients and practitioners, literature and art, on which subjects (and others) he published over 200 books are articles. List of works can be found @ wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy\_Porter )
