Alternative medicine is commonplace in today's world3. This text brings combines the fields of American history, history of medicine, anthropology, sociology, and politics to counter the view that alternative medical therapies fell into disrepute in the decades after physicians established their institutional authority during the Progressive Era. This collection of essays is remarkably even in both quality and perspective...Even though alternative medicines encompass a strong leftist countercultural component, the essays in this volume poignantly demonstrate the many instances in which alternative medicides have forged connections with oppositional subcultures on the political or cultural right.. This openness to nuance and complexity makes this volume an essential reference work for anyone interest in understanding more clearly why more than 40 percent of adult Americans now use at least one form of Alternative medicine. -The Journal of American History