A History of Australia’s Early Cosmopolitan Naturopathic Osteopathy : The Pioneering Practice and Global Symbolism of Thomas Ambrose Bowen

Revealing the forgotten ideas and philosophy behind early naturopathic osteopathy, Strachan presents a reoriented historical view of Thomas Bowen and his work, breaking from the prevailing twentieth-century legitimation narrative of chiropractic subsuming osteopathy, and exploring the contributions and practices of early cosmopolitan Australian osteopathy naturopathy pioneers FG Roberts and Maurice Blackmore.

Viewing Bowen’s practice and symbolism through a historical lens, the book examines the forgotten world of early cosmopolitan Australian osteopathy, debunking popular posthumous commercialised claims about Bowen’s work and asserts the importance of traditional approaches in naturopathic osteopathy. Though an interrogation of conflicting origin stories and myths about Bowen’s work, it highlights the important contributions of naturopathic pioneers FG Roberts and Maurice Blackmore. The background narrative is of mainstream chiropractic and osteopathy as a and chiropractic practice that is rooted in seeking professional recognition and forged from in-fighting between overseas and Australian chiropractic and osteopathic political interests, and posthumous popular interpretation subsequently orphaning Bowen’s work from it’s the wellsprings of naturopathic osteopathy. osteopathic wellsprings.

An accessible book for historians and practitioners of early osteopathy, chiropractic and naturopathy, especially to the large, international community of accredited Bowen therapists.