Book description
The Victorians had a thirst for knowledge. This drove them to
explore the unchartered corners of the world, plumb the unfathomable
depths of science, discover evolution and create some of the
engineering and architectural marvels of the world. Yet this
open-mindedness also at times made them utterly gullible. Because of
their closeness to disease and the ever-present threat of the own
mortality, it was inevitable that they would be open to the claims of
quacks who promised all kinds of pancreas, and to mediums who offered
a means of communicating with the dead. So too did it make them eager
for diversion and entertainment by the conjurers and illusionists of
the great music halls. Strangely, it was through the magic-making
skill of the conjurers that the activities of many of the tricksters
and the fraudulent mediums finally came to be exposed. Medical
Meddlers, Mediums and Magicians is a box of delights for all students
of Victoriana.
Keith Souter is a retired GP and the author of twenty books,
both fiction and non-fiction. His other books include Doctor's Latin
and Schoolboy Science Remembered, as well as The Little Book of Genius.
