中世纪约公元476年~公元1453），是欧洲历史上的一个封建割据时代，战争和瘟疫带来的是无限的痛苦，这个时期被称为“黑暗时代”。本书介绍的是中世纪的医学发展，那个时代瘟疫频发，比如“黑死病”一度让人望而生畏，早期的医学就是在频繁的疾病中研制发展起来的，推荐文学历史爱好者阅读。

This astonishing new book illustrates how death and incurable disease were considered a common part of medieval life. Young readers will be fascinated by the history of the Black Death, or the Plague, which killed millions of people in Europe, and why medical treatments in the Middle Ages were often worse than the disease. Topics include- a timeline of medical changes through the Middle Ages- common medieval diseases and their causes, such as smallpox, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and leprosy- operations and treatments such as bloodletting, and cauterizing- medicine makers such as apothecaries and housewives- women's place in medicine