The definitive biography of Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), the founder of homeopathy, a system of healing which revolutionised medicine and now in the 21st century is receiving more support than at any time in the last century. It is a story of one man's fight against the cruelty, inhumanity and quackery of the medical practice of his day, and his pioneering efforts in the face of persecution, prejudice and bigotry to introduce a safe, compassionate and effective alternative therapy. Set against a backdrop of the tumultuous political and social events of Samuel Hahnemann's time, it vividly traces the development of homeopathy and his family's struggle for survival in the face of war, poverty, pestilence and persecution.