Fans pick 100 books like Female Patients in Early Modern Britain

By Wendy D. Churchill,

Here are 100 books that Female Patients in Early Modern Britain fans have personally recommended if you like Female Patients in Early Modern Britain. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Sufferers and Healers: The Experience of Illness in Seventeenth-Century England

Jennifer Evans Author Of Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540-1740

From my list on early modern medicine.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lecturer in history at the University of Hertfordshire where I teach early modern history of medicine and the body. I have published on reproductive history in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The history of medicine is endlessly diverse, and there are so many books on early modern medicine, some broad and others more specific, it’s this variety that I find endlessly intriguing. Some conditions from the era, like gout and cancer, are familiar, while others like, greensickness, aren’t recognized any longer. Thinking about these differences and about how people’s bodies ached and suffered helps me to appreciate their relationships, struggles, and triumphs in a whole new dimension.

Jennifer's book list on early modern medicine

Jennifer Evans Why did Jennifer love this book?

Originally published in 1987 this book is a classic text for those studying health and disease in this era. Drawing on diaries and printed materials it explains what people died of in the era and what conditions they lived with. It describes how people responded to ill health both spiritually and medically and it provides a series of case studies to illuminate different aspects of health, including women’s health. Using practitioners’ casebooks, it thinks about the differences between an urban surgeon and the practice of rural physicians. It thus moves beyond generalizations to show that practitioners worked alongside each other to heal patients drawn from different socio-economic backgrounds and that the practice of medicine was supplemented and relied upon interventions by friends, family, and community.

By Lucinda McCray Beier,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sufferers and Healers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lucinda McCray Beier's remarkable book, first published in 1987, enters the world of illness in seventeenth-century England, exploring what it was like to be either a sufferer or a healer. A wide spectrum of healers existed, ranging between the housewife, with her simple herbal preparations, local cunning-folk and bonestters, travelling healers, and formally accredited surgeons and physicians. Basing her study upon personal accounts written by sufferers and healers, Beier examines the range of healers and therapies available, describes the disorders people suffered from, and indicates the various ways sufferers dealt with their ailments. She includes several case-studies of healers and…


Book cover of Ill Composed: Sickness, Gender, and Belief in Early Modern England

Jennifer Evans Author Of Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540-1740

From my list on early modern medicine.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lecturer in history at the University of Hertfordshire where I teach early modern history of medicine and the body. I have published on reproductive history in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The history of medicine is endlessly diverse, and there are so many books on early modern medicine, some broad and others more specific, it’s this variety that I find endlessly intriguing. Some conditions from the era, like gout and cancer, are familiar, while others like, greensickness, aren’t recognized any longer. Thinking about these differences and about how people’s bodies ached and suffered helps me to appreciate their relationships, struggles, and triumphs in a whole new dimension.

Jennifer's book list on early modern medicine

Jennifer Evans Why did Jennifer love this book?

This very readable book recovers the expressions, beliefs, and behaviors of early modern patients. It illuminates how understandings of disease causation, the progress of illness, sickbed experiences, and recovery were expressed in distinctly gendered ways. The richly detailed discussion describes how religious beliefs and social interactions shaped the experience of health and medicine at this time. Weisser draws on over forty diaries and fifty collections of correspondence from the middling and upper levels of society to paint this picture. To illuminate the experiences of the sick poor Weisser turns to pauper petitions, designed to overturn decisions made by overseers of the poor, presented to magistrates at the Quarter sessions of ten locations. It thus reveals the sick lives of those at every level of society.

By Olivia Weisser,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ill Composed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the first in-depth study of how gender determined perceptions and experiences of illness in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England, Olivia Weisser invites readers into the lives and imaginations of ordinary men and women. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including personal diaries, medical texts, and devotional literature, the author enters the sickrooms of a diverse sampling of early modern Britons. The resulting stories of sickness reveal how men and women of the era viewed and managed their health both similarly and differently, as well as the ways prevailing religious practices, medical knowledge, writing conventions, and everyday life created and…


Book cover of Physick and the Family: Health, Medicine and Care in Wales, 1600-1750

Jennifer Evans Author Of Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540-1740

From my list on early modern medicine.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lecturer in history at the University of Hertfordshire where I teach early modern history of medicine and the body. I have published on reproductive history in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The history of medicine is endlessly diverse, and there are so many books on early modern medicine, some broad and others more specific, it’s this variety that I find endlessly intriguing. Some conditions from the era, like gout and cancer, are familiar, while others like, greensickness, aren’t recognized any longer. Thinking about these differences and about how people’s bodies ached and suffered helps me to appreciate their relationships, struggles, and triumphs in a whole new dimension.

Jennifer's book list on early modern medicine

Jennifer Evans Why did Jennifer love this book?

So many history books about medicine in the early modern period focus on London and other English urban centers. Withey’s book allows readers to move beyond the metropolis and glimpse sickness, disease, and medicine in a largely rural setting. It challenges readers to move beyond the concept that rural medicine was dominated by folklore and magic, Wales was not insular or remote but connected to broader medical trends in both Britain and Europe. This book illuminates how the ‘Welsh’ body was perceived: strong, robust, possessed of a hot choleric temperament, and a fondness for toasted cheese. And paints a clear picture of the men who made their living treating these bodies.

By Alun Withey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Physick and the Family as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Physick and the family offers new insights into the early modern sickness experience, through a study of the medical history of Wales.

Newly available in paperback, this first ever monograph of early modern Welsh medicine utilises a large body of newly discovered source material. Using numerous approaches and methodologies, it makes a significant contribution to debates in medical history, including economies of knowledge, domestic medicine and care, material culture and the rural medical marketplace. Drawing on sources from probates to parish records, diaries to domestic remedy collections, Withey offers new directions for recovering the often obscure medical worldview of the…


Book cover of John Hall, Master of Physicke: A Casebook from Shakespeare's Stratford

Jennifer Evans Author Of Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540-1740

From my list on early modern medicine.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lecturer in history at the University of Hertfordshire where I teach early modern history of medicine and the body. I have published on reproductive history in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The history of medicine is endlessly diverse, and there are so many books on early modern medicine, some broad and others more specific, it’s this variety that I find endlessly intriguing. Some conditions from the era, like gout and cancer, are familiar, while others like, greensickness, aren’t recognized any longer. Thinking about these differences and about how people’s bodies ached and suffered helps me to appreciate their relationships, struggles, and triumphs in a whole new dimension.

Jennifer's book list on early modern medicine

Jennifer Evans Why did Jennifer love this book?

This is a great example for anyone who is intrigued to read a physician’s case notes. The edition presents the patient observations of John Hall, son-in-law to William Shakespeare from the 1630s. There is a detailed introduction outing Hall’s life, medical practice, and social setting with further information about his library and his manuscript. Patient’s cases are presented throughout the book with helpful footnotes explaining who people were and illustrations bringing locations and faces to life. There is a helpful glossary of medical terms at the end. This is not necessarily a sit-down and read it cover-to-cover book but it provides a fascinating glimpse into one man’s medical practice and the lives of his patients.

By Greg Wells,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked John Hall, Master of Physicke as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the first complete edition and English translation of John Hall's Little Book of Cures, a fascinating medical casebook composed in Latin around 1634-5. John Hall (1575-1635) was Shakespeare's son-in-law (Hall married Susanna Shakespeare in 1607), and based his medical practice in Stratford-upon-Avon. Readers have never before had access to a complete English translation of John Hall's casebook, which contains fascinating details about his treatment of patients in and around Stratford.

Until Wells's edition, our knowledge of Hall and his practice has had to rely only on a partial, seventeenth-century edition (produced by James Cooke in 1657 and 1679,…


Book cover of Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders

Jenna Hollenstein Author Of Intuitive Eating for Life: How Mindfulness Can Deepen and Sustain Your Intuitive Eating Practice

From my list on reality-check your relationship with food and body.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m obsessed with the connections between Buddhist philosophy, meditation, Intuitive Eating, eating disorder and addiction recovery, body liberation, and intersectional social justice work. These connections are everywhere! It may not seem like it, but how we relate to food and our bodies reflects how we feel about all bodies. How we speak to ourselves reflects how we feel about difference, difficulty, and interdependence. Challenging our entrenched beliefs about health, eating, food, and body helps us to ultimately recognize the inherent worthiness of all bodies. This is how we both come to know ourselves authentically and how we change the world for the better. 

Jenna's book list on reality-check your relationship with food and body

Jenna Hollenstein Why did Jenna love this book?

Few people – perhaps even those of us in the eating disorders field – really appreciate just how common eating disorders and disordered eating are.

In this book, an eating disorder physician calls into question the cognitive distortion that someone isn’t “sick enough” to warrant intervention and eating disorder recovery.

I love how Dr. Gaudiani not only covers the reddest flags of eating disorders, but acknowledges what many of us have come to regard as “normal” but in reality is disordered, dangerous, and harmful.

By Jennifer L. Gaudiani,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Sick Enough as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Patients with eating disorders frequently feel that they aren't "sick enough" to merit treatment, despite medical problems that are both measurable and unmeasurable. They may struggle to accept rest, nutrition, and a team to help them move towards recovery. Sick Enough offers patients, their families, and clinicians a comprehensive, accessible review of the medical issues that arise from eating disorders by bringing relatable case presentations and a scientifically sound, engaging style to the topic. Using metaphor and patient-centered language, Dr. Gaudiani aims to improve medical diagnosis and treatment, motivate recovery, and validate the lived experiences of individuals of all body…


Book cover of The Long COVID Survival Guide: Stories and Advice from Twenty Long-Haulers and Experts

Susannah Fox Author Of Rebel Health: A Field Guide to the Patient-Led Revolution in Medical Care

From my list on defend yourself U.S. health care system.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m not a clinician, but friends often ask for my advice when they get sick or need help caring for a loved one. I’ve spent nearly 25 years mapping the terrain created by innovative patients, survivors, and caregivers, the rebels of medical care. I’m also a caregiver to elders. Along the way, I’ve collected books to loan when someone facing a health challenge asks me, “What do I do now?” Each of these five books was written for when you find yourself in the healthcare maze and need to borrow courage, sharpen your senses, and navigate as best you can.

Susannah's book list on defend yourself U.S. health care system

Susannah Fox Why did Susannah love this book?

The COVID-19 virus swept across the world like a hurricane, and 20 survivors of the storm gathered to share the lessons they had learned.

I love how this book centers on the experiences of people living with Long Covid who not only point out the inequities of our health systems but also give practical advice about getting a diagnosis, navigating care, asking for help, and contributing to research.

You don’t have to have Long Covid to benefit. Their wise advice applies to everyone.

By Fiona Lowenstein (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Long COVID Survival Guide as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first patient-to-patient guide for people living with Long COVID - with expert advice and an afterword by the leading research scientist.

For people living with Long COVID, navigating the uncharted territory of this new chronic illness can be challenging. With over two hundred unique symptoms, and with doctors continuing to work toward a cure, people experiencing Long COVID are often left with more questions than answers.
A support group in book form, The Long COVID Survival Guide is here to help. Twenty contributors - from award-winning journalists, neuroscientists, and patient-researchers to corporate strategists, activists, and artists - share their…


Book cover of Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and Chronic Environmental Illness

Dorothy Kupcha Leland Author Of Finding Resilience: A Teen's Journey Through Lyme Disease

From my list on people with Lyme disease who can’t get well.

Why am I passionate about this?

Nineteen years ago, my 13-year-old daughter became wracked in severe pain for no discernible reason. She found walking, lying flat, or sitting up straight impossible. She had a host of other bizarre physical symptoms, too. The doctors we consulted not only didn’t help us, they decided she was faking it. We had to step outside the medical mainstream to discover she had chronic Lyme disease. After many difficult years, she got better, and I began working to change the system. As president of LymeDisease.org, a national Lyme advocacy and research organization, I write and speak on behalf of Lyme patients and their families.

Dorothy's book list on people with Lyme disease who can’t get well

Dorothy Kupcha Leland Why did Dorothy love this book?

This is one of the first books I recommend to Lyme patients who email me for advice about getting better. It’s a sad fact that most people with chronic Lyme disease don’t have “just” Lyme disease. Their condition is complicated by toxic mold exposure, environmental chemicals, other infectious bacteria and viruses, and/or a highly sensitized nervous system.

Whether they’ve been diagnosed with Lyme disease or not, I think anyone with complex health problems that they just can’t resolve could benefit from reading this book.

By Neil Nathan,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Toxic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Millions of people are suffering from chronic illnesses that, unbeknownst to them, are the result of exposure to environmental toxins and infectious agents such as mold and Borrelia, which causes Lyme disease. Millions. Because the symptoms of these illnesses are so varied and unusual, many of these individuals have sought medical care only to be dismissed, as if what they are experiencing is “in their head.” Many (if not most) have tried to tough it out and continue to function without hope of improvement. Unfortunately, their illnesses are very real.

Toxic is a book of hope for these individuals, their…


Book cover of Diseases of The Goat

Cheryl K. Smith Author Of Goat Health Care

From my list on keeping your goats healthy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have raised miniature dairy goats since 1998 and encountered many health issues in my goats and those of friends. Only one mainstream book on raising my goats existed when I got them. I decided to write my own book. That plan was put on hold when I became publisher of Ruminations magazine. I frequently wrote about goat health care and reviewed new goat books as they came out. In 2009, I published my book, a comprehensive compilation of articles from Ruminations. Afterwards, I wrote Raising Goats for Dummies. Not many studies are done on goats, but each book has added to the body of knowledge regarding goat health care.

Cheryl's book list on keeping your goats healthy

Cheryl K. Smith Why did Cheryl love this book?

This book is comprehensive and divided into different disease categories. It is written in a way that is accessible to most goat owners and covers initial assessment, causes, signs, diagnosis, and treatment for each disease.

The last chapter addresses surgical techniques, which I haven’t had to refer to much but could be very helpful to goat farmers without access to a veterinarian.

By John G. Matthews,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Diseases of The Goat as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Diseases of the Goat, 4th Edition, is a revised and updated edition of the popular tool for veterinarians featuring of all aspects of goat medicine-from initial assessment and examination to diagnosis, treatment, and control of conditions. This highly practical, concise handbook is designed for frequent reference, and is suitable for all those treating and keeping goats.

Provides information on to predators, euthanasia, post-mortem technique, and fracture repair Includes expanded coverage of a number of topics to appeal to a wider and more international audience especially in relation to poisonous plants Incorporates the impact of new developments in goat diseases, such…


Book cover of Descriptions and Prescriptions: A Biblical Perspective on Psychiatric Diagnoses and Medications

Pierce Taylor Hibbs Author Of Struck Down but Not Destroyed

From my list on anxiety and faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

Pierce Taylor Hibbs (MAR, ThM Westminster Theological Seminary) has lived with an anxiety disorder for over fourteen years and offers a unique perspective on how anxiety and faith are interconnected. He is the award-winning Christian author of many books, including Struck Down but Not Destroyed: Living Faithfully with Anxiety. Other books he's written on anxiety include Still, Silent, and Strong: Meditations for the Anxious Heart and Finding Hope in Hard Things: A Positive Take on Suffering

Pierce's book list on anxiety and faith

Pierce Taylor Hibbs Why did Pierce love this book?

When I was struggling to understand my anxiety, I came across this book from a former doctor and current counselor. It really helped me understand some of the psychological lingo for mental health from a Christian perspective. And as much as I was informed by this short book, I was also encouraged! The author has a clear heart for people suffering from mental illness, and that comes through in his counsel and his explanations. It’s now become one of the books I recommend right away to anyone dealing with mental illness in the context of faith in God.

By Michael R. Emlet,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Descriptions and Prescriptions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

OCD, ADHD, PTSD, Bipolar Disorder . . . these are not just diagnoses from the DSM; they are part of our everyday vocabulary and understanding of people. As Christians, how should we think about psychiatric diagnoses and their associated treatments?

We can't afford to isolate ourselves and simply dismiss these categories as unbiblical. Nor can we afford to accept the entire secular psychiatric diagnostic and treatment enterprise at face value as though Christian Scripture is irrelevant for these complex mental struggles. Instead, we need a balanced, biblically (and scientifically!) informed approach that is neither too warmly embracing nor too coldly…


Book cover of The Mini ADHD Coach: Tools and Support to Make Life Easier--A Visual Guide

Catherine J. Mutti-Driscoll Author Of The ADHD Workbook for Teen Girls: Understand Your Neurodivergent Brain, Make the Most of Your Strengths, and Build Confidence to Thrive

From my list on understanding ADHD in girls and women.

Why am I passionate about this?

After 37 years of being undiagnosed with ADHD, I was so grateful to get my diagnosis! Once I had an inkling that I had ADHD, I began devouring books about it :-) The books in this list are five of many that have helped me understand myself and my brain, and I want to help others have access to them and to the inspiring, affirming, and empowering self-knowledge they provide! These books will help you figure out if you might have an ADHD brain and then, from there, help you work with and celebrate that brain.

Catherine's book list on understanding ADHD in girls and women

Catherine J. Mutti-Driscoll Why did Catherine love this book?

This book is a lovely and practical guide since it communicates information about ADHD easily using visuals. It is an excellent choice for someone who wants to learn more about ADHD and is a visual learner! I also enjoy this book's "day in the life" theme, where it tackles ADHD-related issues and challenges as they arise throughout a day in the life of an ADHDer.

By Alice Gendron,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mini ADHD Coach as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An inclusive guide to ADHD that explores its diverse types, symptoms, diagnoses, and misconceptions, and shares how to work with your ADHD brain to fully understand yourself.

Diagnosed at 29, Alice Gendron offers full and supportive insight into life with ADHD, addresses common challenges and hurdles, and provides tips and ADHD hacks that will help you to get things done and live a more peaceful daily life. This illustrated and informative guide is a must-have for anyone looking to better understand ADHD and how to thrive with ADHD. 

Through Gendron’s motivational voice and relatable illustrations, The Mini ADHD Coach will…


Book cover of Sufferers and Healers: The Experience of Illness in Seventeenth-Century England
Book cover of Ill Composed: Sickness, Gender, and Belief in Early Modern England
Book cover of Physick and the Family: Health, Medicine and Care in Wales, 1600-1750

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