Stress: A Brief History is a lively, accessible, and detailed examination of the origins of the field of stress research.

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• First concise, accessible, academically grounded book on the origins of the concept of stress.
  
• Explores different theories and models of stress such as the psychosomatic approach, homeostasis, and general adaptation syndrome.
  
• Discusses the work and intriguing contributions of key researchers in the field such as Walter Cannon, Hans Selye, Harold Wolff, and Richard Lazarus.
  
• Explains the origins of key concepts in stress such as stressful life events, the coronary-prone personality, and appraisals and coping.
  
• Culminates in a discussion of what makes a good theory and what obligations stress researchers have to those whose working lives they study.