The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present

Medicine advances ever faster, and with it a capacity not just to overcome sickness, but to transform the very nature of life. Starting in antiquity, Roy Porter's titanic history examines the traditions of both East and West to chart how this revolution came about and how life for human beings in some parts of the world has ceased to be 'nasty, brutish and short'. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind becomes from the moment of publication the standard work on its subject. It is also a magnificent entertainment and a delight to read.