Imperialism and medicine in Bengal: a socio-historical perspective

and late twentieth-century hospital planning. In a relatively short text (125 pp.) there is little room for detailed analysis of some subjects examined or discussion of attendant issues. For example, records of barber surgeons in Norwich date from 1188 and the author outlines various forms of medical licensing up to the late seventeenth century, notes the relatively large numbers of practitioners involved, the significant proportion of episcopal licences granted to women, and refers the reader to published research in this area. But why the Royal College of Physicians sought to impose a "closed system" in Norwich, whether the medical knowledge, practices or patents defended in this way were really superior to that of other "popular healers", or the possible benefits of these processes to the local population are not discussed. Chapters on the county's medieval and modem hospitals include those at Shotesham, which Batty Shaw has shown to be the country's first cottage hospital, and the Bethel, Norwich, the first hospital for care of the insane to be established in the provinces. However, there is little on the development of these institutions, their services or their impact, although references to assist further study are again provided. Anthony Batty Shaw's coverage of Norfolk diseases, the local medical societies and eminent figures such as Sir Thomas Browne or Benjamin Gooch is stronger. These are subjects on which he has previously published research, including material in this journal ( 1970, 14: 221-59) on the Norwich School of Lithotomy. A detailed section on medical education, in particular teaching in a non-teaching hospital, reflects both the author's historical interest and professional involvement. The balance struck in the subject material selected for this volume might not suit the modern social historian but there is much to attract local interest, including some sixty-one photographs. An additional twenty-four pages of references mean that, if not a comprehensive account of Norfolk and Norwich medicine, this is a very useful guide and an essential starting place for its further study.