Find out what life was like in Britain before the National Health Service was introduced in 1948? How has medicine progressed since the Victorian times? Starting in 1871, this book takes a look at how hospitals have changed and how scientific discoveries have improved health care for all.

The Past in Pictures series gives a fascinating look at life in Britain through the photographs of The National Archives. It looks at past eras; at the way rich and poor families lived, the concept of holidays and leisure time for families and how the role of men, women and children from Victorian times, through two world wars, to modern Britain, have changed.