This new book combines mystery stories with popular history and medical case studies to offer readers a fascinating and entertaining experience Post Mortem examines the controversial lives and deaths of 12 famous men and women, including Alexander the Great, King Herod, Joan of Arc, Mozart, Beethoven, and Edgar Allan Poe. It traces 3,500 years of the medical history, describes the characteristics of the illnesses in question, and brings to life the medical history, social history, family history, and physical examination of the famous victims. Then this book sifts through the medical evidence, testing a wide range of diagnostic theories against the known facts and today's best scientific research, to arrive at the diagnosis most consistent with the illness described in the historic record.