ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an introduction to medicine in Britain between 1780 and 1950 – or, to use the historian's terminology – from the end of the early modern period through the modern period. It addresses one basic aspect of medicine in the past – diseases, ideas, practices, institutions, practitioners and the state – and sets out to explains what happened, where and why, as well as introducing some of the central figures associated with the topic. History of medicine as an academic discipline is relatively young: it was only established in the 1970s. Research papers, once found only in specialist journals such as Medical History or Social History of Medicine are now published in a wide range of history journals. The chapter explores a different aspect of medicine; all address a common theme of change and continuity.
