Doctors in Western literature

Described as a reference guide highlighting 1500 passages from over 600 texts (virtually all available in English), this volume is compiled from Posen’s lifetime of reading with an eye toward literary portraits of physicians. He has identified eleven facets of the physician–patient–society encounter and organised the book around these, with chapters addressing, for example, physician fees, the doctor’s time, bedside manner, emotional distance between doctor and patient, and litigation, as played out by medical characters in literature across the ages.