Author Description

Four decades have passed since this book was published. The first edition was a sellout success. It was translated into several languages and quickly went out of print. A lot has happened since 1984, in the world of medicine, so is it still relevant? We think it is. Here is the critical diagnosis of establishment medicine, its ethics and power. A fascinating history of the healing arts is documented from ancient times to the 20th century advance of scientific medicine. The facts of 'medical progress' are fever-charted, in cartoon-documentary style. What we are shown, in the passage from earliest medical treatment to the 'modern miracles' of chemotherapy, is the assembling of a powerful orthodoxy, with hegemony over questions of health on a global scale. Two main currents of the medical mass industry are observed: the "free enterprise' corporative system developed in the U.S. and its apparent social alternative in Britain, the National Health Service. Both are scrutinized for real achievements, paradoxes and faults. Criticisms of the giant systems, from the various alternative political, feminist, holistic and ‘Third World’ standpoints are usefully summarized. Medicine for Beginners was first published in 1984, before AIDS and COVID, DNA analysis and gene editing, yet its message is still vitally relevant. It is controversial, fun, and a first-rate illustrated guide to the historical roots of the ailments of modern medicine.