Curar, sanar y educar reflects the maturation of the history of medicine in Mexico. The 11 articles included in the collection originated in a seminar on the social and cultural history of health in Mexico, and a 2006 conference with similar themes. They cover much of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. Most chapters focus on Mexico City, public health agencies, and the process of state formation. Claudia Agostoni deserves high praise for insuring a high degree of coherence among the articles, most of which no doubt show considerable refinement from their initial formats.
The book is divided into three thematic sections. Agostoni introduces the collection with an overview of recent innovations in the social history of medicine of Latin America, locating the volume’s contributions within that historiography. Part 1 includes four chapters on education and public hygiene, beginning with early nineteenth-century efforts to instill...
