Since its publication in 1958, George Rosen's classic treatise has remained the only comprehensive international account of the history of public health. Long available only through antiquarian bookstores, A History of Public Health now returns to print in a paperback edition that supplements the original text with Elizabeth Fee's new introduction and Edward T. Morman's biographical essay and bibliography. George Rosen discusses the evolution of public health in classical Greece, imperial Rome, England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United States, and other countries. He also presents the lives and history-making contributions of the great figures in public health. Approaching the subject from a broad point of view, Rosen considers community health problems of different periods in terms of their political, social, and economic patterns. Among the topics discussed are the prevalence of disease, the water supply and sewage disposal, epidemiological theory, maternal and child health, nutrition, occupational health, health education, public health administration, communicable disease control, medical care, statistics, public policy, and medical geography. A new introduction by Elizabeth Fee places the work in the context of both the earlier and later historiography of public health. Fee identifies Rosen's agenda in relation to trends in medical history and the politics of public health in the 1950s. She also assesses the impact of Rosen's book and identifies new problems in public health that have arisen since its first publication.

Public Health, Past and Present: A Shared Social Vision -- George Rosen, Public Health, and History -- Preface to the 1958 Edition -- The Origins of Public Health -- Health and the Community in the Greco-Roman World -- Public Health in the Middle Ages (500-1500 A.D.) -- Mercantilism, Absolutism, and the Health of the People (1500-1750) -- Health in a Period of Enlightenment and Revolution (1750-1830) -- Industrialism and the Sanitary Movement (1830-1875) -- The Bacteriological Era and Its Aftermath (1875-1950) -- The Bacteriological Era and Its Aftermath (Concluded).