What a modern occurrence: a young man works only enough to get by, seduces every lovely young thing he can, spends himself into bankruptcy, and abuses his professional position, all the while wondering with complete innocence why the world isn't beating a path to his door. But Rosner's book isn't a comedy of 20th-century errors; it's the tale of a Regency-era stud who badly needed to be disabused of his notions. Fear not. He never was. Each few pages brings some fresh misadventure, in which the good doctor thinks he's found the perfect source of free money or true love, while you, the reader, are already squirming in anticipation of disaster. Here's a taste: Lesassier's specialty is obstetrics, at which he actually was quite competent. However, there was that little problem with him seducing his patients. This book does take a certain amount of attention to read. Published for the academic community, it's page after page of small print and few illustrations. It's well worth the effort.

This is a remarkably engaging tale based on the in-depth study of an 18th century physician's voluminous diary. In this actual history that reads like a page-turning novel, Rosner brings to life an ambitious, social climbing man from his youth and his training through a career marked by multiple scandals. A reader is forced to wonder how much the world of the protagonist's sexual pecadillos and ambitious exploitative manipulations are reflected behind the scenes in today's medical world. The author has turned scrupulous historical scholarship into a fully engrossing read.

Going into the new century, we have fairly clear ideas about the 20th century we have just left; and even the lead-in of the 19th century feels like familiar territory. But for me, and I suspect for many, the period between the Renaissance and more recent times has been a horrendous muddle. This book is uncommonly successful in bringing order to that muddle. The authors do a remarkable job of portraying the tapestry of events and cultural forces that got us from there to here. Indeed, thanks to them, the "here" becomes much clearer. Although this was written as a college text, with clarity a primary value, the book succeeds as a Michelin guide to history for the interested independent reader.