This wide-ranging book is the first to examine one of the most significant and characteristic features of modern medicine - specialization - in historical and comparative context. Based on research in three languages, it traces the origins of modern medical specialization to 1830s Paris and examines its spread to Germany, Britain, and the US, showing how it evolved from an outgrowth of academic teaching and research in the 19th century into the dominant mode of medical practice by the middle of the 20th. Taking account of the parallels and differences in national developments, the book shows the international links among the nations' medical systems as well as the independent influences of local political and social conditions in the move toward specialization. An epilogue takes the story up to the twenty-first century, where problems of specialization merge into the larger crisis of health care which affects most western nations today.

George Weisz is a professor of social studies and medicine and Cotton-Hannah Chair for the History of Medicine at McGill University in Quebec. He is author and editor of several books, including Divide and Conquer: A Comparative History of Medical Specialization, and co-editor of Greater than the Parts: Holism in Biomedicine, 1920-1950 and Body Counts: Medical Quantification in Historical and Sociological Perspectives.

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"Indispensable. This well-informed, lucidly-written, and sophisticated comparative study constitutes an important contribution not only to the history of medicine, but to the sociology of the professions - and to the enterprise of comparative history itself."--Charles E. Rosenberg, Ernest E. Monrad Professor to the Social Sciences, Harvard University

"This is clearly the most authoritative and up-to-date treatment of the history of medical specialization. The author's fluency in French and German enables him to compare and contrast developments in America, Britain, Germany, and France and do justice to both national differences and cross-border similarities. His grasp of the secondary literature is also formidable, making this book a valuable contribution to not just the history of medical specialization, but also the history of medicine in general." --Ian R. Dowbiggin, Chair, Department of History, University of Prince Edward Island

"The book is a tour de force and deserves a wide readership in the health-policy world, as well as among historians and sociologists of medicine and the professions."--Bulletin of the History of Medicine

"This is an impressive, encyclopedic study, which provides wonderful source material and ways of looking at the struggles to incorporate specialization into organized medicine in four countries with different political structures, health payment arrangements, and professional organization. The research is impeccable. Weisz knows what has happened in the four countries better than anyone I can think of. He has an exceptional command of primary and secondary sources." --Rosemary A. Stevens, Stanley I. Sheer Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania

"In this important historical study, George Weisz, PhD, professor of Social Studies of Medicine at McGill University, cogently analyzes the forces that gave rise to specialties and continue to shape their futures... For those who are interested in contemporary health care challenges, Weisz's book provides essential and compelling historical perspective."--JAMA

"This book will be widely read by historians of medicine...Non-specialists will also find much in Divide and Conquer. Anyone working on a medical specialty will want to consult with Weisz's work."--H-France

"Divide and Conquer reveals rich, uncharted territory. It is a great pleasure to read, evocative, and splendidly detailed."--Medical History