中世紀約公元476年~公元1453），是歐洲歷史上的一個封建割據時代，戰爭和瘟疫帶來的是無限的痛苦，這個時期被稱為“黑暗時代”。本書介紹的是中世紀的醫學發展，那個時代瘟疫頻發，比如“黑死病”一度讓人望而生畏，早期的醫學就是在頻繁的疾病中研制發展起來的，推薦文學歷史愛好者閱讀。

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