MJ Aminoff F Boller DF Swaab (eds) Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 95 3rd series History of Neurology Edited by: S Finger, F Boller, KL Tyler Elsevier BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2010 ISBN: 978-0444-52009-8

The Handbook of Clinical Neurology is a monumental series that started in 1968 edited by Bruyn and Vinken. The third series, starting with volume 79 in 2003, is edited by Aminoff, Boller and Swaab.

The present volume 95 is the first ever in the series dedicated to the history of neurology. It is a 950-page volume with 58 contributing authors, edited by Finger, Boller and Tyler. The book is divided in six sections.

The first part covers the period from the prehistory until the eighteenth century.

In the second section the birth of modern neurology is described in nine chapters going from the beginning of localization theory to the origins of functional brain imaging with one chapter dedicated to Jean-Martin Charcot. The next section deals with the interaction between neurology and other disciplines. A major section is devoted to the history of disorders such as headache, epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, meningitis and muscular dystrophy. The following sections cover regional landmarks, including North America, several European countries, Russia, China and Japan, Australia and Latin America. The final section is devoted to the history of treatments and recovery.

This encyclopedic volume collects a lot of information that has not been combined in one volume previously. It helps the neurologist to appreciate the fast evolution of his discipline today and is very useful for everyone interested in the history of medicine.