Book Notes

Georges Didi-Huberman. Invention of Hysteria: Charcot and the Photographic Iconography of the Salpêtrière (1982). Translated by Alisa Hartz. xii + 373 pp. Ill. $34.95 (0-262-04215-0).

The original version of this book, in French, was reviewed by Guenter Risse in the Bulletin in 1986 (60: 269-70); his enthusiasm for that edition makes this translation especially welcome, for he wrote: "Charcot's 'reconstruction' of hysteria with the use of photographic documentation was widely acclaimed and to some extent substituted for the non-existent pathological lesions that usually defined nosological entities. Not only has Didi-Huberman given us an excellent account of that process, but he has presented us with a thoughtful case study of the impact of photography on medical thought and practice" (p. 270). The English edition is beautifully produced. In our reviewer's words, "readers especially interested in medical iconography and the history of psychiatry will welcome this richly illustrated book" (p. 269).

The Editors

Eduard Seidler and Karl-Heinz Leven. Geschichte der Medizin und der Krankenpflege. 7th revised and expanded ed. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 2003. 333 pp. Ill. E18.90 (paperbound 3-17-017624-2).

First published in 1963, this combined history of medicine and nursing has been once more updated. In a brief introduction, the authors—both physicians and professional medical historians—reaffirm their intention to furnish a broad overview that stresses the kinship and common goals of both professions throughout historical times. In their text, they attempt to bridge narrow ideologies and professional aims, arguing for a historiographic approach that lends equal significance to medical and caring interventions and seeks to eliminate traditional stereotypes of gender. Leven furnishes a fresh view of classical Greco-Roman healing, while Seidler surveys twentieth-century developments in Germany, including events between 1933 and 1945 and those of the past fifty years. New scourges such as AIDS and Alzheimer's disease are duly noted, together with the exploding costs of medical care that create great burdens for patients and medical-care systems. The book, meant to appeal to students and professionals in both medicine and nursing, admirably succeeds in its aim to furnish an integrated historical perspective.

Guenter B. Risse
University of California, San Francisco (emeritus)

Norman Gevitz. The D.O.'s: Osteopathic Medicine in America. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. xiv + 242 pp. Ill. $44.95 (cloth, 0-8018-7833-0), $24.95 (paperbound, 0-8018-7834-9).

Since the publication of the first edition of The D.O.'s in 1982,¹ Norman Gevitz has been synonymous with the history of osteopathic medicine. Now with this much expanded second edition, he has provided us with a picture of the current status of a profession that has increasingly evolved from sect to science. Despite the merger of osteopaths with MDs in California in the early 1960s, this did not turn into a national trend. There are still more than 40,000 DOs who practice a brand of medicine that has become increasingly difficult to distinguish from that of the more than 660,000 MDs—and at times they practice in hospitals and medical-school faculties side by side.

I can echo our reviewer, who said, "Gevitz has written a lucid and thorough and judicious study of the movement."² At times the number of acronyms overwhelms the text, but the message is always clear. The Johns Hopkins Press deserves praise for not changing the title of this edition (even though it has grown from 148 to 191 pages), a dubious and misleading practice that we have seen too often in recent years.

Gert H. Brieger
Editor Emeritus

Georgina Feldberg, Molly Ladd-Taylor, Alison Li, and Kathryn McPherson, eds. Women, Health, and Nation: Canada and the United States since 1945. McGill-Queen's Associated Medical Services (Hannah Institute) Studies in the History of Medicine, no. 16. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003. ix + 438 pp...