Guido Majno

This absolutely fabulous book explores healing techniques in civilizations across the ancient world, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Arabia, China, India, Alexandra, and Rome and the works of Galen. There are photographs and illustrations throughout. This is not a mere overview for the general public, but a book written by a doctor, for doctors; so yes, some of the descriptions and pictures are a bit on the gory side. I appreciated Majno's emphasis on the showing the original text and how translations are made, and why translating can be rather precarious.

I have a first edition of the book and some of the wording is archaic (a few references to primitive peoples being civilized) but overall it's a surprisingly fast and pleasant read. This book is a must for authors who write about the ancient world.… (more)