Why read Legal Medicine in History?

Book cover of Legal Medicine in History

Book description

This collection of essays presents fresh interpretations of the growth of medico-legal ideas, institutions and practices in Britain, Europe and America over the past four hundred years. Based on a wealth of new research, it brings the historical study of legal medicine firmly into the realm of social history. Case…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Legal Medicine in History as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Katherine D. Watson

Author

Newcomers to the subject can turn to this indispensable collection of essays for an outstanding introduction to the key legal, institutional, and professional foundations of forensic medicine in Europe and the United States since the seventeenth century. Case studies of infanticide, the mentally ill, coroners’ inquests, and abortion show just how deeply embedded in social, political, and legal contexts forensic practices are, and highlight their power to inspire and shape socio-legal change.

From Katherine's list on The best books on the history of forensic medicine.