Books for Researching Medicine for Your Historical Fiction

I teach on-line classes on medical history before 1840 and Georgian and Regency military medicine. As a result, I've read a number of books on medical history. Below are some books to help get you started on your historical medicine research for your historical fiction.

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History John M. Barry

A Field Guide to Germs Wayne Biddle. This is a quick and dirty guide to diseases.

Scurvy: How a Surgeon,A Mariner and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail Stephen R. Brown. AN interesting read with lots of insight into early theories of disease.

Captain of Death: The Story of Tuberculosis Thomas M Daniel. A scary read, especially in a time of rising drug resistant TB.

The Worst of Evils: The Fight Against Pain Thomas Dormandy. A fascinating look into pain relief, a relatively modern invention that we take for granted.

The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales of Science, Surgery and Mystery Rob Dunn. Gross and fascinating stories from the history of medicine.

Doctors on Horesback: Pioneers of American Medicine James Thomas Flexner. A great look at the history of American medicine and the pioneers who helped develop it.

Western Medicine: An Illustrated History Irvine Loudon. A good overview of medical history.

Military Medicine:From Ancient Times to the 21st Century Jack Edward McCallum. A good overview of military medicine.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President Candice Millard. A lot of graphic details about what it was like to live and die with the medical limitations of the time,

The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching and the Birth of Modern Surgery Wendy Moore. Excellent look into a time when medicine really began to change and the men who helped usher in those changes.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 Jim Murphy. Plagues, they aren't just for medieval Europe.

Blood & Guts: A Short History of Medicine Roy Porter. Another excellent history of medicine.

The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon’s Greatest Army 

Stephan Talty. More soldiers used to die of disease than enemy fire as this book details.

Revolutionary Medicine 1700-1800 Keith C Wilbure M.D. A YA book that doesn't read like one. A very accessible text for anyone interested in historical medicine.

If you enjoyed these books then check out mine because they have medical history in them.