Vomit, bloodletting, holy kisses – medicine in the Middle Ages was a dramatic affair. But as Harvey’s energetic book makes clear, the concerns of the medieval layman were similar to our own, and their attitude to the elderly and disabled wasn’t what posterity likes to think. - Daily Telegraph: Best Summer Reading 2026I adored this delightfully cringe-inducing book. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun learning about the past. Harvey benefits from a plethora of great material; there’s so many weird stories to make the reader squirm. Her aim, however, isn’t simply to shock. She arranges the material in a logical manner, working her way methodically round the body to provide thefullest picture of medieval health. In the end a portrait emerges that is entirely familiar. The people back then were a lot like us: they fretted about their health, took steps to improve it and cared for those who suffered. In the process of examining the medieval body, we also get a glimpse at the soul. - Gerard DeGroot, The Times[Harvey] examines how people in the Middle Ages actually understood health and healthcare. As it turns out, from digestion to ageing, mental health to exercise, the concerns of the medieval layman often mirrored our own . . . The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living is finely researched and richly detailed, and Harvey has gone to monumental efforts to make her case. You can’t emerge from it unconvinced that the trope of a filthy medieval person is outdated. The facts speak for themselves . . . as social histories of the Middle Ages go, this is eminently enjoyable – warts and all. - Helen Carr, Daily TelegraphUnlike other histories of medieval medicine, which are often structured around different diseases or contexts of medical practice, Harvey’s main subject is the way in which people managed the external factors affecting their health in an era when much disease was thought to arise from imbalances or disorders within the body. Grouped mostly in contrasting pairs, these external factors were collectively known as ‘non-naturals,’ and Harvey takes them in turn: air and environment; food and drink; movement and rest; excretion and retention; and the emotions . . . Her chapters on medieval attempts to manage these challenges and opportunities present a wide-ranging, accessible picture of daily life. - TLSMedieval well-being hacks show our ancestors weren’t complete strangers to healthy living . . . From alcohol and exercise to sleep and mental health, a new book reveals medieval Britons’ preoccupations with some of our own modern concerns. - Sunday ExpressBeyond the clichés of barbarity, the medieval world reveals a surprisingly sophisticated approach to health, where the pursuit of wellbeing was paramount . . . Believe it or not, medieval families washed regularly, changed their clothes, loved their children, valued sleep, tried to stay fit, encouraged dental hygiene and recognised the dangers of addiction . . . The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living entertains, informs and shatters stereotypes with equal gusto. - Engelsberg IdeasFascinating . . . This is a terrific book: I’ve rarely had such fun learning about the past. - The WeekThis book will surprise and delight many history enthusiasts as well as those interested in the history of medicine. - Library JournalA book that will upend our view of the past, this time disabusing us of the Medieval reputation of dirt and lack of hygiene . . . Harvey's revisionist history uncovers a time when people strove to live a healthy and balanced life. - Sue Baker, The Bookseller: Health and Diet Spotlight 'Expert Pick'In The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living, Katherine Harvey offers a clearly written, lively exposé of medieval ideas about, and practices for, health and wellness that challenge our modern misconceptions of the era. At times serious but often infused with humour, Harvey’s work reminds us that concern for our health, and taking action to protect it, is part of what makes us human, even if our understanding of how the body works has changed over the centuries. - Lori Jones, Adjunct Professor, University of Ottawa, and author of Patterns of Plague: Changing Ideas about Plague in England and France, 1348–1750Tackling head-on a range of worn cliches about medieval backwardness, Katherine Harvey brings vividly to life a society that was just as preoccupied with health and wellbeing as we are today. This engaging and impeccably researched book casts a new light on the Middle Ages and should be required reading for anyone with an interest in medical history. - Carole Rawcliffe, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, University of East Anglia, and author of Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and CitiesLiving well was a medieval obsession as much as a contemporary one. Katherine Harvey shows that health advice was founded on surprisingly sophisticated medical ideas about how the human body interacted with its environment. Courts, cities and religious groups across Europe all adopted rules to avoid infection and pestilence. The book is brimming with a wealth of fascinating individual stories of medieval people high and low trying to stay healthy in a world full of risks. - Peter Murray Jones, Fellow and former Librarian of King’s College, Cambridge, and author of The Medicine of the Friars in Medieval England
