Historical Perspectives Keith Sykes Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford John Bunker Visiting Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London Medical School £16.95,  978-1-85315-674-8,  320pp,  Paperback,  January 2007

John Sprigge, British Journal of Anaesthesia
The breadth and depth of this book is impressive, and you can read it cover to cover (...) it shows that what patients and their anaesthetists now enjoy has not been achieved overnight, but is the result of diligent endeavour and research over many years.

Derwent Swaine, Medical Sciences History vol. 23
The strengths of this book are the way in which the sheer excitement of the very rapid development of this field is conveyed to the reader. It becomes a "page turner" in which one can't wait to find out what happens next. The skill with which the authors have combined first-rate storytelling with rigorous descriptions of the science behind it is remarkable; they also remind us of the personalities and politics involved. The accompanying pictures and illustrations are excellent and always very pertinent. In summary, this is a book to be read and re-read.

Dennis Johnston, The Ulster Medical Journal, 2008
This is a delightful volume written by two retired anaesthetists, one a Cambridge graduate and the other a graduate from Harvard. (...)Together Keith Sykes and John Bunker have built up a wonderful and engaging story of anaesthesia over the last two centuries from laughing gas parties and ether frolics to the targeted use of local and general anaesthetics used today. Anaesthetists, surgeons, those involved in medical history will be enthralled and captivated by this book.

Alistair McKenzie, History of Anaesthesia Society
This book will appeal to anyone with and interest in medicine. It is also a good choice for a first read of the history of anaesthesia and would make a most acceptable Christmas present.

Anaesth Intensive Care 2007; 35
Anaesthesia has made great and rapid advances during the past 50 years, Sykes and Bunker have been major contributors during this time and have seized the opportunity to write a history with the advantage of having been witnesses during these changes, and having had an active part in the increasing involvement of anaesthetists in the widening scope of health care.

Mervyn D Cobcroft, Anaesthetist, Flying Surgeon Service, Roma
In a word, majestic!

Written by two anaesthetists, one British and one American, this unique book focuses on the transatlantic story of anaesthesia. The authors have both worked at the two hospitals where the first general anaesthetics for surgery were given in 1846, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and University College Hospital, London. Each with more than fifty years’ experience of working in anaesthesia, they combine their knowledge and expertise to offer a fresh outlook on the development of anaesthesia through the ages.

This highly informative and intriguing text details the origins of anaesthesia, outlines the different techniques of anaesthesia and traces its progress with illuminating and enlightening commentaries. This is a fascinating book which considers the role key figures have played in developing anaesthesia including, Queen Victoria, William Morris, La Condamine, Bjorn Ibsen and Henry Beecher.

Broken down into four sections, which are divided into easy-to-read chapters and filled with beautifully produced photographs, this book makes compelling reading. It is recommended to anyone interested in the history and development of medicine through the ages and is of particular interest to anaesthetists. More than just the science of anaesthesia, this is the story about the people and personalities who have made anaesthesia what it is today.

Contents:
Part 1: Anaesthesia —the first 100 years
Part 2: Professionalism in anaesthesia: the reluctant universities
Part 3: New horizons: the emergence of intensive care
Part 4: The relief of pain in childbirth and the care of the newborn

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