A fascinating look at primitive and ancient medicine by medical historian and classical scholar Plinio Prioreschi, MD, PhD

Plinio Prioreschi, MD, PhD (1930–2014), the author of this monumental series of tomes on the history of medicine was an accomplished scholar – i.e., physician, scientist, linguist (of classical and several modern languages), pharmacologist, medical historian, and ethicist, as well as thinker, although he did not necessarily claim all of these accomplishments. Prioreschi completed his MD (1954) at the University of Pavia, Italy, and his PhD (1961) in experimental medicine at the University of Montreal. From 1967 to 2002, Prioreschi was a professor of pharmacology and medicine at Creighton University. He was also an accomplished medical scientist, medical scholar, as well as a formidable figure in pharmacology and medical history and ethics. The complete series of his authoritative series, A History of Medicine, to which he devoted more than 20 years of his life, includes: • A History of Medicine – Volume I: Primitive and Ancient Medicine (1991/1995); 596 pages • A History of Medicine – Volume II: Greek Medicine (1996); 771 pages • A History of Medicine – Volume III: Roman Medicine (1998); 822 pages • A History of Medicine – Volume IV: Byzantine and Islamic Medicine (2001); 498 pages • A History of Medicine – Volume V: Medieval Medicine (2003); 804 pages • A History of Medicine – Volume VI: Renaissance Medicine (2007); 801 pages.