Medical geography in historical perspective

course of Franco-German history is often clogged with textbook prose and competing topical or chronological conceptions. He displays an annoying penchant for series: two of this, three of that, four of the other, etc. The sometimes blurred relationship between matters small and large is reflected in Bonah's evident indecision about what belongs in the text and what should be relegated to the footnotes (which contain some of his most interesting observations). Thorough pruning and tighter construction would have served him well. If such difficulties tend to prevent Bonah's study from becoming a paragon of comparative history, they do not vitiate the perspicacity and basic soundness of his work. His volume is certain to find a secure niche amid the growing historical literature dedicated to a richer understanding of the differing internal structures and common interactions among nations in the European heartland.