The first book to focus on belief, culture and healing in the past; the authors draw on a broad range of material, from studies of demonologists and reports of asylum doctors, to church archives and oral evidence.
Despite the recent upsurge in interest in alternative medicine and unorthodox healers, "Illness and Healing Alternatives in Western Europe" is the first book to focus closely on the relationship between belief, culture, and healing in the past. In essays on France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and England, from the sixteenth century to the present day, the contributors draw on a broad range of material, from studies of demonologists and reports of asylum doctors to church archives and oral evidence.
'...those interested in the history of irregular or alternative medicine, witchcraft and demonology, the relations between medicine and religion, hysteria or twentieth-century abortion, will need to consult one or another of the articles in this collection.' -
History Review
