Cancer and chronic disease are a rapidly increasing global health burden: according to the Milken Institute, the annual cost to the national US economy of the seven most common chronic conditions will rise to $4.2 trillion by 2023. The data are just as dramatic in Canada, Europe, Australia, and increasingly, in countries in the developing world. As communities, governments, and health organizations worldwide struggle to avoid being swamped by health care costs - not to mention the impact of suffering and poor quality of life - the only long-term, sustainable hope must be based on...

During her imperial heyday, Britain's greatest fighting force -- the Royal Navy -- was only ever as good as its surgeons. Surgeons of the Fleet explores the dramatic story of medical practice on the high seas, offering the first full portrait of the men who dedicated their lives to the Navy, and their contribution to its efficacy as a military machine.

With vivid and occasionally eye-watering description, David McLean traces the development of naval medicine from the gory days of Cook and Nelson -- when as many as 65% of maritime casualties were due to illness -- through to...