In a previous blog* I extolled the virtues of walking in London. Here are a couple of books to set local walks in an historical public health and tropical medicine context.
Black, Nick. Walking London’s medical history. London : Hodder Arnold, 2012.
Library location: DX.43, 2012 (main reading room)
Professor Nick Black describes 7 short walks on the theme of medicine and public health in the capital. Walk 3 – “A cradle of reform” passes the Tavistock Place site and describes a jagged U shape starting at Euston and finishing at Kings Cross, and is described in the introductory section as: “How in a 40-year period health care was radically altered by the events that took place in one small area of London”.
Another local walk, number 1, describes a very jagged “b” shape from Tottenham Court Road to Covent Garden tube stations, the theme being “Church, Crown and City” – how they have competed with each other to control health services and influence health care policy.
To find out more about walks 2,4,5,6 and 7 why not borrow the book?
Cook, G. C. From the Greenwich Hulks to Old St Pancras. A history of tropical disease in London. London : Athlone Press, 1992.
Library location: UB.D.43, 1992 (Barnard Room)
The author sets out the history of tropical medicine in London from its maritime beginnings, the formation of the Seamen’s Hospital Society, the establishment of the LSHTM and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
This work is not a walking guide but may inspire exploration of the Docklands, Greenwich, Bloomsbury and St Pancras.
