Originally published in 1977, this book presents a selection of work by historians and sociologists on medicine and society in the 19th century. It concentrates on practitioners and patients, quackery and folk medicine, as elements in the social, cultural, political and economic structure of the community at large. The relevance of social history in medicine to the analysis of the role of medicine in society is discussed as well as the knowledge of sex and sexuality and the professionalisation of medicine.