Read more
"Epilepsy occupies a unique position in the pantheon of human ailments. It is now, as it has always been, the unparalleled hierophant of neurological disease, but it is much more than this. A multifaceted phenomenon, it has in the swirling waters of human experience, complex scientific, societal and personal significations and meanings, and has attained a symbolism (an 'idea') which has become deeply embedded in the culture of mankind. In consequence, although primarily a medical history, the topic of this book - the story of Epilepsy's voyage in the long twentieth century (1860-2020) - has been shaped by other strong currents in addition to that of medicine, and to ignore these currents would be to isolate epilepsy and deprive it of any meaning. Although similar considerations apply in many diseases this is probably truer of epilepsy than of most others. To Oswei Temkin, epilepsy was a 'paradigm of the suffering of both body and soul in disease', and with its broad and deep connections, who can disagree?"--
About the author
Simon Shorvon is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Neurology at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Hon. Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, where he has worked as a clinical academic specialising in epilepsy for over four decades. He has also served as the Vice President of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), Harveian Librarian at the Royal College of Physicians, co-Editor-in-Chief of Epilepsia, and as Chair of Neurology at University College London. He has won lifetime achievement awards for his work in epilepsy from the American Epilepsy Society, Epilepsy Europe, the British Branch of the ILAE and the Shrinivasan and GopalaKrishna foundations in India. He has, with others, published series of textbooks including: Neurology (2 editions 2009, 2016), Epilepsy and Epileptic Seizures (2013), Treatment of Epilepsy (4 editions 1996–2016), and Causes of Epilepsy (2 editions 2011, 2019). He has, with others, also published books on neurological history, including ILAE 1909–2009: A Centenary History (2009), Physicians at War (2016), 500 Years of the Royal College of Physicians (2018), Queen Square, A History of the National Hospital and its Institute of Neurology (2019).
