Applying today’s medical thinking to health and lifestyle advice from almost 150 years ago hardly seems a fair comparison. As Dr Don McMahon discovers, most medical writers of the late 19th century wilt under such scrutiny. So how do the writings of Ellen G White—who wrote without any medical training or background—stand up? Part scientific investigation, part personal journey, the book Acquired or Inspired? explores the writings of Ellen White in a way they have not been explored before.

Bonus CD:

Many books are the result of a much larger body of research and such is definitely the case with Acquired or Inspired? This book is unique in that it brings together a body of work—various health writings from the 19th century—that is not readily accessible. So to give a fuller picture of the background to this analysis of the health writings of Ellen G White, more than 250 pages of additional material are contained on the CD-ROM attached to this book, forming the seven major appendices to this work.
Most of the material in these appendices is the source material from which Don McMahon’s research has emanated. While Ellen G White’s writings are still in print around the world, given the age and obscurity of these works, the other health writings referred to in this book are now in most cases available only on microfiche in specialised research libraries. Dr McMahon has done a service to history in painstakingly transcribing this material and making it more widely accessible in this form. However, these are presented more in the form of research notes than an edited compilation of these writings.
In the context of this book, this additional material is not merely historical oddity. These CD-ROM appendices form a useful addition to the printed book.