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Bodies, books, fortune, fame
Ruth Richardson
£18.99 £9.49
Please note, this offer price only applies to individual customers when ordering direct from Oxford University Press, while stock lasts. No further discounts will apply. If you are a bookseller, please contact your OUP sales representative.
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A History of Personal Hygiene and Purity
Virginia Smith
£21.00
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Alternative Medicine?
A History
Roberta Bivins
264 pages
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23 black and white integrated halftones
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196x129mm
978-0-19-921887-5
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Hardback
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04 October 2007
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- The story of 'alternative' medicine - and why it is so popular
- Explains the distinctions between 'alternative', 'complementary' and 'orthodox' medicine and explores how these distinctions arose
- Uses a wealth of illuminating and entertaining historical examples, from horse-racing English earls to desperate missionaries in 17th century Indonesia, from hypnotism in the British Raj to homeopathy in the American 'Wild West'
- Shows how the medical systems of China, India, and the west - both mainstream and alternative - have influenced each other over the centuries
Walk into the local health food shop or pick up today's paper and the chances are that you'll see adverts for acupuncture and herbal medicine, hypnotists and homeopaths. Some doctors and scientists mourn the lost lustre of mainstream medicine and complain about a new breed of 'irrational' consumer.
But what exactly is 'alternative' medicine? Is the astonishing popularity of alternative and multicultural medicine really such a recent development? And, given the success story of modern biomedical science, why are alternative and traditional treatments now
so fashionable? Has the impersonal chill of high-tech medicine driven consumers into the arms of charismatic quacks? Or is it the cost of western medicine that makes its competitors look so attractive? Do patients seek hope, holism, or just the thrill of rebellion?
This book seeks answers to all these questions and more. Comparing the medical systems of China, India, and the west - both mainstream and alternative - Roberta Bivins shows how medical expertise has migrated from one culture to another. From acupuncture in Regency England to homeopathy in the 'Wild West', Bivins unearths the roots of today's distinctions between alternative, complementary, and orthodox medicine, and shows how popular interest in medical alternatives - often of exotic origin - is a
phenomenon with a long and fascinating pedigree. Readership: All those interested in alternative and complementary medicine and the history of these forms of medicine.
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Roberta Bivins, Wellcome Lecturer in the History of Medicine
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"It is well written, concise, yet wide-ranging." - British Journal for the History of Science "This well-written and painstakingly researched book would enhance any history of medicine collection." - Doody's Notes "[an] elegant and engaging book...Bivins takes us on a fascinating journey from east to west and back again" - Financial Times "This compact, densely written history effectively demonstrates how alternative medicine has survived and prospered in the 21st century." - The Independent "A fascinating read... illuminating book" - Nayanah Siva, New Scientist
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Introduction: 'Rival systems of medicine'?
1: 'What is this burning?'
2: Health and 'The New Science'
3: 'The Chinese have a great deal of wit'
4: 'With our Western brethren, the case seems to be quite different'
5: Conclusion: Pragmatism, Pluralism and the (Im)Patient-Consumer
Further Reading
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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