Immerse yourself in the history of medicine - a colourful story of skill, serendipity, trial and error, moments of genius and dogged determination.

From traditional Chinese medicine to today's sophisticated gene therapies and robotic surgery, A Short History of Medicine combines riveting storytelling, historical accounts and lucid explanations to illuminate the story of medicine through time.

Witness early, bloody, anaesthetic-free operations and first crude surgical instruments, trace the mapping of the circulatory system, follow the painstaking detective work that led to the decoding of the human genome and understand the role that potions, cures, therapies, herbal medicines and drugs have played in the human quest to tame and conquer disease, injury and death.

Previously published as Kill or Cure, A Short History of Medicine is an engrossing history and tale of drama and discovery that celebrates the milestones of medical history across generations and cultures.

Steve Parker is a writer, editor and consultant specialising in general science and life sciences. He is a Senior Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and has written more than 250 books, including The Human Body, Eyewitness Medicine, Eyewitness Human Body and Medicine. He has been shortlisted for prizes ranging from BBC Blue Peter Book of the Year to Times Educational Supplement Information Book of the Year and won the 2014 BMA Board of Science Award for the Public Understanding of Science.