The book begins with the training of competent general practitioners. Like infectious diseases more generally, it proved a tough job to find time for venereology in the medical student curriculum. (Graham Mooney, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Vol. 74 (3), July, 2019) This book considers the societal, legislative, scientific and medical changes that influenced our understanding of, and responses to, syphilis and gonorrhoea. it richly illustrates the problems faced by healthcare professionals and contains a wealth of information of interest to the more general reader. (Tim Mason, BSHM British Society for the History of Medicine, bshm.org.uk, July, 2017)