Medarchy. It finally happened. The medical establishment has taken over the civilized world. Orwell's Big Brother is a doctor, and there is a prescription for everyone. . . usually thanatization or "modification." The all-powerful high court of Medics will decide. The primitive operations and drugs of an earlier culture have been replaced by more sophisticated methods and controls. The population at large, described as Patients, willingly observe the codes of behavior set by the ruling Medics. It is a strange and cold world, still evolving from the devastation of ancient bacteria aerosols. All that is visible, from architecture to transportation, has been newly created by the Medical technologists. The minds and bodies of the citizens are on "hold." Nothing must encroach on the Public Health. Every facet of life has been measured and made safe. But there are a few escapees, dissidents, deviants. The "Abnormals." This is the story of three of them. . . As the author explains in a note, this book is a substantial expansion and re-write of a 1959 magazine serial of the same name, by Ward Moore, Robert Bradford, and Jean Ariss.