Dr Hannah Newton with Heiner Fangerau, president of the EAHMH

Dr Hannah Newton has been awarded the European Association for the History of Medicine and Health (EAHMH) 2015 Book Prize. The Prize is granted to the best medical history monograph published in the last two years, on any aspect or period of medical history in Europe or the wider world. The Award is given to books which interpret the topic ‘in a particularly rich, nuanced, and innovative manner’. The winner receives €3000, granted through the generous support of the Dutch Stichting Historia Medicinae and the German Robert Bosch Stiftung.

This year, 40 books were nominated. The President of the EAHMH, Heiner Fangerau, reports that the Association received ‘many excellent works and had a hard decision to make’, but that ‘finally, a unanimous decision was made to give the prize to Hannah Newton for her book, The Sick Child in Early Modern England, 1580-1720’, published by Oxford University Press. Hannah collected the Award at the 2015 EAHMH Biennial Conference on 4 September, in Cologne, Germany.

Dr Newton with her book

The Jury commended the book for providing ‘valuable and unusual insights into the experience of disease, pain, suffering and death of children in early modern England’. The judging panel ‘liked the extraordinary and unusual approach to combine the social history of childhood, history of medicine and history of emotions.’ The jury was ‘particularly impressed by the way Hannah Newton combined scholarly rigor with empathy by giving a voice to children, mothers and fathers, and physicians. At the same time she contextualizes these personal accounts within a masterly presentation of the complex medical knowledge of the period.

Her outstanding book has been reviewed enthusiastically in different scholarly journals. And after reading it, the jury could only agree with these reviews, and is very happy to award the prize to Hannah Newton.’

Congratulations to Hannah on this wonderful achievement. It is a resounding endorsement of the quality of her scholarship, and very welcome for the Department and the University as we take steps to develop the medical humanities at Reading,

Professor David Stack, Head of Department

You can find more on Dr Newton’s book by following this link

The Sick Child in Early Modern England, 1580-1720