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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.

"Mental health problems and stress-related disorders are often the cause of early death. Cary Cooper's and Philip Dewe's book is a fascinating and highly readable account of the long and difficult journey to this insight. I recommend it strongly." Lennart Levi, MD, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Division of Stress Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

"an informative and concise summary of landmarks in the history of stress research, with themes originating from over a hundred years of contributions to the field ... this book carries more than enough information for one to appreciate the origins of an exciting and necessary field." Andi Yi-An Shih, Ph.D. Candidate, University of British Colombia. Stress and Health, 20, 239-40, 2004

"This must be the definitive book on the history of stress, written by specialists in organisational psychology and behaviour...Work stress is given a chapter on its own , and the conclusion asks what we mean by stress and how research on the topic can be pursued." Scientific and Medical Network Review, Summer 2005

Cary L. Cooper is Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at the Manchester School of Management. He is the author of over 100 books, as well as senior co-editor of the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management (12 volumes, with Chris Argyris). He has been an advisor to the World Health Organisation, two UN bodies, and the International Labor Organisation.

Philip Dewe is Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Head of the Organizational Psychology Department at Birkbeck College. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Organizational Stress (with Cary L. Cooper and Michael P. O’Driscoll, 2001) and Coping, Health and Organisations (edited with Tom Cox and Michael Leiter, 2000).