WINNER YOUNG QUILLS AWARD BEST HISTORICAL FICTION 2021 12-year-old Ada is a laundress of little consequence but the new castle commander Brian de Berclay has his evil eye on her. Perhaps she shouldn't have secretly fed the young prisoner in the tower. But when the King of England crosses the border with an army of over 3000 strong, Ada, her friend Godfrey and all at Caerlaverock suddenly find themselves under attack, with only 60 men for protection. Soon, rocks and flaming arrows rain from the sky over Castle Caerlaverock - and Ada has a dangerous choice to make.

This unique examination of medieval medicine as detailed in physician's manuals of the period reveals a more sophisticated approach to the medical arts than expected for the time. Far from the primitive and barbaric practices the Middle Ages may conjure up in our minds, doctors during that time combined knowledge, tradition, innovation, and intuition to create a humane, holistic approach to understanding and treating every known disease. In fact, a singularly authoritative medical source of the period, Lily of Medicine, continued to provide crucial study for students and practitioners of medicine almost four centuries after its completion in 1305. This unprecedented book investigates the extensive capabilities of physicians who relied on practice, observation, and imagination before the supremacy of mechanistic views and technological aids. Medieval Medicine: The Art of Healing, from Head to Toe is a comprehensive look at diseases as they were described, classified, explained, assessed, and treated by doctors of the age. The author methodically compares a dozen encyclopedic manuals in which both the fundamental understanding of healthy functions and the specific response to diseases were summarized, viewing the information through a medieval perspective rather than based upon modern criteria. Includes translations, available for the first time in English, of original comments and illustrations by physicians of the day Contains a plethora of additional resources for learning, including 20 black-and-white plates with full references, 5 tables, a glossary of unusual words, a chronology and list of the consulted sources, and an extensive bibliography Reveals how medieval medical manuals influenced literary, historical, and medical study