This collection of essays by leading scholars compares and contrasts the historical contexts which have led patients to choose homoeopathic practitioners. Countries under consideration include Germany, USA, France, Great Britain, Russia, Brazil, Belgium, Iceland and Denmark. This collection of essays by leading scholars compares and contrasts the historical contexts which have led patients to choose homoeopathic practitioners. Countries under consideration include Germany, USA, France, Great Britain, Russia, Brazil, Belgium, Iceland and Denmark. Using studies of Samuel Hahnemann's own practice, such as his approach to fees and his correspondence with patients, the book opens by challenging some of the myths surrounding the early history of homoepathy. Subsequent sections address issues of social standing, class and gender in the provision of homoeopathic treatment, and juxtapose the motivations of nineteenth-century and late-twentieth-century patients in their choice of healer. Finally, the book explores the lobbying work carried out by homoeopathic patients over the past two centuries, underlining their significance as a social and political pressure group in the introduction, stabilisation and current resurgence of homoeopathy.