Syphilis in Shakespeare's England

The sinister shepherd; wonder drugs for the pox; England and the pox; an age of upheaval; chronicles of syphilis and prostitution; prostitution in England, high-risk groups; the promiscuous city and its stage representation; Shakespeare and his circle; Shakespeare's unconscious imagery; Shakespeare's mid-life crisis; the dangerous infirmity of burning.

The book begins with an excellent survey of the rise of the disease on the Continent, its spread to Britain and of the medical profession's efforts to cure it... Fabricius examines the evidence for the arrival of the disease in Britain, the social conditions which were conducive to its spreading, and the measures taken to combat it...one of the virtues of Fabricius's book is the sheer breadth of his approach, examining the issues in the wider context of the work of other writers of the period, medical literature and other legislative measures... Clearly there is stuff here to fuel prolonged debate.