This book is the first to give a well-documented, illustrated survey of the historical background to disease caused by fungi in man and domesticated animals. Medical and veterinary mycology includes the study of infectious diseases caused by actinomycetes and allergic conditions induced by both fungi and actinomycetes, and their history is also described here. The foundations of medical mycology have been laid over the past centuries but have only been completed during recent decades. This is therefore an appropriate moment to write the history of this specialty, which involves the collaboration of medically qualified and non-medically trained workers. Dr Ainsworth’s long and varied career in mycology fits him ideally to the task he has undertaken and he has drawn on his experience to provide an invaluable scholarly perspective on the area.