Shop

"Medicine touches all our lives. To understand medicine we need to know its history. This book contains a collection of stories of the history of medicine suitable for people with a range of backgrounds, including those with little or no knowledge of the subject."

Contraception, Lesley Hall

• Gaimster D, Boland P, Linnane S and Cartwright C, The archaeology of private life: the Dudley Castle condoms. Post-Medieval Archaeology 30, 1996
• Hall L A, Personalising population decline in an era of demographic change: Marie Stopes and her correspondents. In Robert Peel (ed.), Marie Stopes, Eugenics, and the English Birth Control Movement, London: Galton Institute, 1997.
• Malthusian Mutations: the changing political perceptions and moral meanings of birth control in Britain in Brian Dolan (ed.) Malthus, Medicine, and Morality: 'Malthusianism' since 1798. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000.
• Himes N, A Medical History of Contraception. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1936.
• Parisot J, Johnny Come Lately: A Short History of the Condom, London: Journeyman Press, 1987.

The story of Chas F Thackray Ltd, medical suppliers and surgical instrument makers. This book chronicles the development of the family business from modest origins as a retail pharmacy to one of Britain's principal medical companies and gives a fascinating insight into day to day life in the business, from first hand accounts by employees who served their apprenticeships with Thackray's before the war to boardroom decisions on which the firm could stand or fall.

'Penny Wainwright's eye for vivid detail and her meticulous research bring alive the history of a remarkable firm, from the invention of the hip joint to secret survival equipment for wartime spies. This important book illuminates another important aspect of the history of Leeds.'
Kevin Grady, Director, Leeds Civic Trust '

…well-written and full of thought-provoking material. The technological developments which are central to the story are conveyed with admirable clarity and economy, and ramifications of the firm's diverse business activities are communicated with similar directness. [This book has] accessibility and an eye to telling anecdote and human interest.'
John K Walton, Lancaster University, Social History Bulletin

'the author has researched some rarely covered areas…described in an accessible manner. Few books, even those sponsored by museums, have included objects so relevantly…an excellent model for future histories.'
Neil Handley,

On publication in 1929, this classic text by renowned Indian obstetrician Sir Kedarnath Das was described as 'a masterpiece, entertaining and important'. Based on a life long study of the instrument that revolutionised medical intervention in childbirth, the text considers over 500 varieties of forceps and includes over 2000 references in ten different languages, helping to unravel the complex role that instruments have played in development of medicine and the medical profession.

Handlist of pre-1971 medical trade catalogues in the Thackray Museum, 2010. (ii) 269 pages

In late 1831 the first great epidemic of Asian cholera struck Britain. as well as disease and death, there was widespread social unrest and rioting in 1832. This book is the culmination of a 3 year research project into the nature and extent of these riots, often directed against the medical profession.

Edited by Michael Holland, Geoffrey Gill and Sean Burrell.

Cholera and Conflict Book Review 

Cholera and conflict is a collaborative work emanating from a three-year research project funded by the Thackray Medical Research Trust and overseen by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

The book is comprised of fourteen, largely descriptive chapters, six of which are local studies based in England. Although the editors claim that the volume covers both the 1832 and 1849 epidemics, the focus is mainly on the former.

In their introductory chapter Gill and Holland give an informative appraisal of the disease - detailing its causes, means of transmission, symptoms and modern treatment. Local studies, which form the bulk of the volume appear to have been carfefully researched, with authors making extensive use of local newspapers, board of health reports and other printed matter. Zeeley's chapter analyses the debate that cholera provoked amongst Sunderland's medical faculty and shows how this had a profound effect on the public's response to the first epidemic. Brooke highlights the popular suspicion that accompanied the establishment of a cholera hospital in Leeds, where locals believed doctors were using it as a means of procuring bodies for anatomical research. Hardiman locates the disturbances associated with the cholera outbreak of 1832 in Bristol within the broader context of a general fear and distrust of doctors amongst Bristolians at this time. And McDuff looks at Liverpool, which according to the research findings, experienced the highest incidence of cholera riots in Britain. Again, the author points to a distrust of the medical profession as a principal cause. Chapters by Newman and Price consider Salisbury and Kent respectively. Newman shows how a conservative provincial press attempted to make light of the local epidemic in order to avoid panic. Price traces the impact the disease had on Kentish holiday resorts in 1832 and 1849, finding the authorities were also keen to play down local outbreaks to protect the developing tourist industry.

The remaining chapters, though interesting, deviate from the volume's stated aims. Hinton looks at cholera in the British Army and Navy during the Crimean War. Hill examines the arrival of cholera in North America, linking this to emigration from Western Europe. Finally, Morden's eloquently written chapter, accompanied by seven colour plates, attempts to identify and understand the reception and responses to both epidemics through an analysis of contemporary literature, the visual arts and popular culture.

Collectively the book suffers from an irritatingly large number of typos and other editorial slip-ups at the proof reading stage. As usual with volumes of this nature, the quality of contributions is also very mixed. This said, there is much to commend it, not least becasue it restates the importance of local studies as a means of providing a nuance to wider debates. All of the chapters provide useful information that will doubtless be of value to those with a general interest in the places studied and to people specifically researching cholera in nineteenth-century Britain.

Richard Biddle - Oxford Brookes University

The full artice can be found in;

R.Biddle (2009) Book Review, Family and Community History. Vol. 12/2, pp.151 - 152.

 

A beautifully presented souvenir guide to the Thackray Museum. Containing images and information about the collections and the museum, the guidebook is a perfect way to remember a fantastic day out.