Writing this book has been an adventure in many ways, from the initial proposal conceived with David Cantor on the basis of his research on arthritis, to the work with Francis and the extension into museum projects at the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and at Wrightington Hospital. We did not expect to include as much as we have on patients — that came largely from Julie’s interests in
... [Show full abstract] disability and cultural history; nor that we would look so much to America, which came from our shared realisation that the UK story only made sense in a transatlantic context. We have ventured into many new areas, and we have lots of questions still outstanding. But in this conclusion we first quickly survey the histories in the UK and the US, and we then draw together some of the lessons we have learned so far.
