In this comprehensive history, we meet individuals who suffered with MS in the centuries before the disease had a name, including blessed Lidwina of Holland, who took joy from her misery, believing that she was sent to accept suffering for the sins of others; Augustus d'Este, grandson of George III and cousin of Queen Victoria, whose case shows how someone with access to the best of medical care of the age was understood and managed; and Heinrich Heine, the German poet, who also had access to all medical services that were available, but who progressed into his "mattress grave" in two decades, aware of the loss of physical ability while still able to compose great poetry to the end. From these early cases the author demonstrates how progress in diagnosing and managing multiple sclerosis has paralleled the development of medical science, from the early developments in studies of anatomy and pathology, to the accurate definition of the disease in the nineteenth century, and eventually to modern diagnosis and treatment.
