Introduction; Chapter 1 The Enlightenment; Chapter 2 The age of reform; Chapter 3 Modernity; Conclusion and the beginning;

Christopher Lawrence's critical overview of medicine's place in the development of modern Britain examines the significance of the clinical encounter in contemporary society.
* first short synoptic study of its kind
* breaks new ground by bringing together specialised scholarship into a broad argument
* shows how the medical profession created a very specific role for itself
* relates medicine to general social policy