"Mankind's battle to stay alive and healthy for as long as possible is our oldest, most universal, and most formidable struggle. In Blood and Guts, Roy Porter explores the many ingenious ways in which we have attempted to overcome disease through the ages: the changing role of doctors, from ancient healers, apothecaries, and blood-letters to today's professionals; the array of drugs, from Ayurvedic remedies to the launch of Viagra; the advances in surgery, from amputations performed by barbers without anesthesia to today's sophisticated transplants; and the transformation of hospitals, from Christian places of convalescence to modern medical powerhouses." "With his characteristic wit and vastly informed historical scope, Porter examines the war fought between disease and doctors on the battleground of the flesh from ancient times to the present. Startlingly illustrated with historic line drawings, the agonies of the ailing provide vivid anecdotes for Porter's enlightening story of medicine's progressive efforts to prevail over a formidable and ever-changing adversary."--BOOK JACKET.