This work investigates the evolution of medical practice and the social structure of the healing professions in France from the sixteenth century through the French Revolution. Laurence Brockliss and Colin Jones utilize extensive historical research to map the transition of medical knowledge and the shifting status of practitioners. The authors argue that medicine in this period was not merely a scientific pursuit but a complex social phenomenon deeply embedded in the economic and cultural fabric of the nation.

Historians frequently cite this text as a foundational resource for understanding the professionalization of medicine in early modern Europe. Scholars note the impressive breadth of the research, which successfully bridges the gap between high-level medical theory and the practical realities of daily life.