One-third of the world's population is currently infected with the TB bacillus and up to ten percent of these individuals will go on to develop tuberculosis. Today the disease is most prevalent in Africa and South Asia, but a century and a half ago it was the largest single cause of death in Europe and North America.

In Tuberculosis Then and Now leading scholars and new researchers in the field reflect on the changing medical, social, and cultural understanding of the disease and engage in a wider debate about the role of narrative in the social history of medicine and how it informs current debates and issues surrounding the treatment of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Through a case study of the history of tuberculosis and its treatment, this collection examines medicine and health care from the perspectives of class, race, and gender, providing a challenging and refreshing addition to the field of bacteria-centred accounts of the history of medicine.

Contributors include Peter Atkins (University of Durham), David Barnes (University of Pennsylvania), Alison Bashford (Harvard and University of Sidney), Tim Boon (Science Museum, London), Linda Bryder (University of Auckland), Flurin Condrau (University of Manchester), Jorge Molero-Messa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Helen Valier (University of Houston), John Welshman (University of Lancaster), and Michael Worboys (University of Manchester).