A History of Britain's Hospitals

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View books by G. B. Carruthers, Lesley A. Carruthers.

Good content but needs better contents and referencing - Rated
This is an interesting book that, as the title says, takes us through the history of hospitals in the UK. The focus of the book is mainly from the 1700s-1900s where the major developments of the hospital movement took place. The authors do look at hospitals pre-1700 though due to lack of hospitals and lack of sources there is much less to write about. The post 1900s are also looked at as well as the introduction of the NHS but here the language tends to be political with the authors view coming through rather strongly. The book is well illustrated, though rather annoying there is no separate contents page that lists the illustrations. The narrative varies between a discussion of themes and chronological history, the latter unfortunately has a tendency to descend into list format. The book is poorly referenced and the bibliography seems a little light especially given the depth of knowledge the authors show in the text. An interesting book for students of the history of medicine and for social historians interested in how health welfare evolved in Britain.