This is the first wide-ranging collection of articles on the history of hospitals in the Mediterranean, northern Europe, and the Americas for over seventeen years. It brings together fully revised and expanded versions of papers from the first two conferences (1999 University of East Anglia, Norwich; 2001 Verona University) sponsored by the International Network for the History of Hospitals. The collection shows the vigour and variety of the latest scholarly research on these complex institutions. The sixteen contributions present a nuanced approach to the impact of hospitals on society over a very long time period and an exceptional geographical range.