This is a monumental work on hospitals in the United States from the 1870s to World War II, an influential period that saw the end of the pavilion plan and the advent of the high-rise hospital. As the first book-length study to address the architectural implications of the germ theory, it is destined to become a classic in the history of hospitals. Annmarie Adams, author of Medicine by Design: The Architect and the Modern Hospital, 18931943
In her meticulously researched history of modern American hospitals, Kisacky examines the frequently elusive purposes and consequences of architectural design. Forged at the confluence of shifting medical requirements and broader cultural, civic, and economic values, her hospitals mirror in form and function the collective understanding of human well-being. Guenter B. Risse, author of Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals.