In a world burdened by chronic conditions and mutating viruses, with a health service strained to its limits, the history of medicine challenges our understanding of what it means to be healthy. By illuminating the ailments and methods of the past, our own dilemmas about medical practice and policy can be put into a new perspective. Esteemed historian Mark Jackson takes us from the dawn of medicine in the ancient world to the most recent developments pioneered in the twenty-first century's hospitals. On the way, Jackson explores Indian and Chinese traditions, as well as the origins of today's 'alternative' therapies, offering piercing insight into how medicine has reflected and shaped society throughout the ages.