Background
Biddiss, Michael Denis was born on April 15, 1942 in Farnborough, Kent, United Kingdom. Son of Daniel and Eileen Louisa (Jones) Biddiss.
(A newly revised edition of an established classic in the ...)
A newly revised edition of an established classic in the history of medicine. Arising from collaboration between a doctor and a historian, Disease and History offers the general reader a wide-ranging and most accessible account of some of the ways in which disease has left its often dramatic mark on the past. It reviews, for example, the impact made by bubonic plague and other infections upon the ancient and medieval worlds; the likely role of syphilis in the careers of Henry VIII and Ivan the Terrible; the significance of smallpox for the conquest of Mexico; and the contribution of typhus to Napoleon’s downfall and of haemophilia to the collapse of Tsarist rule in Russia. Other topics surveyed include the influence of tropical diseases in the history of the colonization of Africa, and the global death-toll taken by the so-called ‘Spanish’ influenza of 1918-9. The authors show how successive eras have registered some progress against pestilence, even while also experiencing confrontation with new and often unforeseen threats. Thus the final section of the book highlights how this field of history serves to illuminate many of the current problems now facing a world where disease – especially when combined with war, famine, and ecological recklessness – presents an ongoing challenge to human survival. ‘A study whose outstanding virtues are economy, clarity and readability.’ New Statesman ‘A welcome updating and careful revision of one of the pioneering accounts of the social history of medicine.’ Roy Porter, Professor of the Social History of Medicine, UCL ‘Fascinating and highly recommended.’ Library Journal
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1910198234/?tag=2022091-20
(Dr. Biddiss here gives us the first general study in Engl...)
Dr. Biddiss here gives us the first general study in English of the French aristocrat Count Gobineau, the 'Father of Racism'. His notorious 'Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races' surpasses in scope and sinister grandeur even that other racist classic, 'Mein Kampf'. Dr. Biddiss, who has already edited a volume of Gobenau's political writings, has drawn upon a wide range of source to establish the relationship between Gobineau's racist theories and his other social and political concerns. The first part of the book deals with Gobineau's thinking in the period before the formulation of his racist creed around 1850, when the 'Essay' was begun. The second section discusses that work, its place in the development of Gobineau's thought, and its chief implications for social and political theory. In the final part the author examines the later evolution of Gobineau's beliefs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0297000853/?tag=2022091-20
Biddiss, Michael Denis was born on April 15, 1942 in Farnborough, Kent, United Kingdom. Son of Daniel and Eileen Louisa (Jones) Biddiss.
Bachelor, Queens' College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1964; Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, Queens' College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1968; student, University Strasbourg, 1965-1966.
Fellow, director studies in history and social/political science, Downing College, Cambridge, 1966-1973; lecturer, reader in history, U. Leicester, United Kingdom, 1973-1979; professor of history, U. Reading, United Kingdom, since 1979. Visiting professor U. Victoria, B.C., Canada, 1973, Capetown, South Africa, 1976, 78, Monash, Australia, 1989.
(A newly revised edition of an established classic in the ...)
(Dr. Biddiss here gives us the first general study in Engl...)
Fellow Royal History Society (joint vice president since 1995). Member Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine/Society Apothecaries of London (president since 1994, Osler medal 1989, Locke medal 1996), Council of History Assns. (president 1991-1994.).
Married Ruth Margaret Cartwright, April 8, 1967. Children: Clare, Katherine, Sarah, Beth.