Hot Flushes, Cold Science: A History of the Modern Menopause

Foxcroft, Louise

ISBN 10: 1847081711 / ISBN 13: 9781847081711

Published by Granta Books, 2010

About this Item

Seller Inventory # U9781847081711

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Hot Flushes, Cold Science: A History of the Modern Menopause
• Publisher: Granta Books
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1847081711
• ISBN 13: 9781847081711
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1782583504.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: 46836005
• Signed: 6/27/2026 6:05:04 PM
• Seller catalogs:
  • 1
  • U
  • 9781847081711

About this title

Synopsis

A powerful, taboo-shattering medical and social history that redresses the myths and delivers the truths about menopause

 

Meticulously researched and always entertaining, this book traces the history of "the change of life" from its appearance in classical texts and the medical literature of the 18th century to up-to-the-minute contemporary clinical approaches. For more than 2,000 years, attitudes toward menopause have created dread, shame, and confusion. Its progression from natural phenomenon to full-blown pathological condition led to bizarre treatments and often dangerous surgery, and formalized a misogyny which lingers in the treatment of menopausal women today. Delving into the archives, the boudoir, and the doctor's bag, this book reveals the elements that formed the menopause myth: chauvinism, collusion, trial, error, and secrecy. Absurd assumptions that have persisted through history are challenged here, such as the idea that sex stops at menopause, or that aging should be feared.

About the Author

Louise Foxcroft is the author of The Making of Addiction. She writes for the Guardian and the London Review of Books. She was awarded the Longman Pearson/History Today Book of the Year Award for this book.