Roy Porter

Algorithm Party is a debut publication in which an utterly original, fully-formed literary voice announces itself, somehow full of life, on the page. Liverpools spoken-word performer Roys deft, articulate and startlingly observed stories veer from the comic to the calamitous in a breath, cutting to the quick of the broad swathe of people and personalities that comprise his native city, from struggling parents to small-time criminals, pent-up white-collar workers to drinkers long lost to the ale. Roys eye is as keen as it is generous, presenting, in the great tradition of English realism, the real lives of people up against it in all sorts of ways, muddling through, trying to make the best of it.

Against the backdrop of an unprecedented concern for health today, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine not only surveys the rise of medicine in the West from earliest times to the present day, but also glimpses into the future. It is written by a team of experts co-ordinated by one of the most distinguished and prolific writers and researchers into the history of medicine, Professor Roy Porter. Both authoritative and accessible, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine is the only serious choice for a reader wanting a lively and informative single-volume introduction to medical history.

This edition does not include illustrations. A definitive study of the history of medicine, from the earliest humans to the present day. Medicine is advancing at an incredible rate. We now have the ability to overcome sickness but also to transform the nature of life itself: in many parts of the world, human existence has simply ceased to be nasty, brutish and short. In this titanic history of medicine and disease, Roy Porter examines the traditions of East and West to chart how this revolution has come about. Covering medical milestones big and small from dissection to surgery and from anaesthesia to AIDS Roy Porters masterpiece is both a superlative history of medicine and a sweeping survey of human life and death.

Roy Porter, a historian of formidable range, turns to urban history in this marvellously lucid, informative and passionate book... Porters facts are always at the service of the narrative, which has

Mankinds battle to stay alive is the greatest of all subjects. This brief, witty and unusual book by Britains greatest medical historian compresses into a tiny span a lifetime spent thinking about millennia of human ingenuity in the quest to cheat death. Each chapter sums up one of these battlefields (surgery, doctors, disease, hospitals, laboratories and the human body) in a way that is both frightening and elating. Startlingly illustrated, A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE is the ideal presentfor anyone who is keenly aware of their own mortality and wants to do something about it. It is also a wonderful memorial to one of Penguins greatest historians.

A portrait of 18th century England, from its princes to its paupers, from its metropolis to its smallest hamlet. The topics covered include - diet, housing, prisons, rural festivals, bordellos, plays

For generations the traditional focus for those wishing to understand the roots of the modern world has been France on the eve of the Revolution. Porter certainly acknowledges Frances importance, but here makes an overwhelming case for consideringBritain the true home of modernity - a country driven by an exuberance, diversity and power of invention comparable only to twentieth-century America. Porter immerses the reader in a society which, recovering from the horrors of the Civil War and decisively reinvigorated by the revolution of 1688, had emerged as something new and extraordinary - a society unlike any other in the world.

As an introduction to early modern thinking and the impact of past ideas on present lives, this book can find few equals and no superiors. Porter is a witty, humane writer with an extraordinary vocabulary and a sparkling sense of fun. Whether he is quoting from obscure medical texts or analysing scabrous diaries, dishing the dirt on long-dead bigwigs or evoking sympathy for human suffering, his grasp is masterly and his erudition appealing. I wish I could read it again for the first time: you can. Times Educational Supplement, Book of the Week In this startlingly brilliant sequel to the prize-winning ENLIGHTENMENT Roy Porter completes his lifetimes work, offering a magical, enthusiastic and charming account of the writings of some of the most attractive figures ever to write English.