[An] excellent book...effectively written.
NOTTINGHAM MEDIEVAL STUDIES
Rawcliffe has long been one of the clearest and loudest voices on the topic of medieval health. . . . A broad range of medievalists will find Urban Bodies pleasing to read, even without a strong background in medical history and its literature.
COMITATUS
A masterful study. ... This volume portrays medieval life in the raw and is history at its very best.
THE RICARDIAN
Superb and deeply researched..a very valuable and important study.
ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL
A crowning achievement in the distinguished career of one of Britain's foremost historians.
ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW
Rawcliffe's significant research should send a new generation of scholars in exciting directions, and, at four hundred pages and with almost two thousand footnotes, this book will be the standard text in the field for decades to come.
ISIS
This handsomely produced book systematically dismantles a stubborn Victorian-era notion: that medieval England was squalid, unhealthy, and devoid of sensible medical approaches to protect the public's health.
AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
A wide-ranging book that makes a substantial contribution to existing scholarship through its comparative approach across locations and over time. Medieval historians will benefit from the nuanced analysis of the interaction between cultural, religious and political attitudes to health care. All historians of medicine will appreciate the opportunity to re-evaluate the medieval period.
SOCIAL HISTORY OF MEDICINE
Vividly written, clearly argued and meticulously researched, [it] represents a significant milestone in the revision of public health history ... [and] will remain a key work for scholars of urban and medical histories for many years to come and, it is to be hoped, an inspiration for further study of this important topic.
URBAN HISTORY
Archaeologists will gain much from reading it.
MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY
An excellent study of 'communal health' in late medieval English towns. ... The text is very well organised and clearly written. ... A very important book.
NORTHERN HISTORY
[An] elegantly written account.
CHOICE
Groundbreaking.
HISTORY TODAY