The Victorian Hospital

The Victorian Hospital by Lavinia Mitton.

Social history meets medical history in Lavinia Mitton’s The Victorian Hospital. What tremendous advances that the health care industry has experienced in 200 short years! This book gives a general overview of Victorian hospital practices, and is filled with a variety of interesting information. In the early 1800s, British hospitals were staffed by volunteer doctors. Instead of having specialty hospital departments, specialist hospitals were created to target specific diseases and body parts, including fevers and eye health. This glossy slim book is filled with photographs of Victorian medical ads and other hospital-related images, and is a great read for any history buffs.

Mitton, Lavinia. (2008). The Victorian Hospital. Oxford: Shire Books.

My Notes

I picked this book up for a variety of reasons. First: I am a history buff. Also, before I decided to become a librarian, I had briefly thought about studying medicine. Finally, I visited the Florence Nightingale Museum in London this summer, and when I saw that there was a section in the book dedicated to nursing, I knew I had to give it a look!