Roy Porter, 55; Wrote Acclaimed History of London

Roy Porter, a writer and historian who attracted an international readership, has died. He was 55.

Porter, author of an acclaimed history of London and several other well-received books, was found lying in a road beside his bicycle Sunday. He died in a hospital near his home in southern England a short time later. His death is under investigation.

Porter had recently retired from the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London.

“Professor Porter was a great historian who brought history to the people. His sudden death is a tragic loss, specially as he still had so much he wanted to achieve,” said Mike Dexter, director of the Wellcome Trust.

A respected academic, Porter also was known through television and radio appearances, newspaper articles and his books, which ranged from “Gout: the Patrician Malady” to “Health for Sale: Quackery in England 1650-1850.”

One of his best-known works was “The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity,” published in 1997. It received a number of prizes, including a Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the history category.

Another, his “London: A Social History,” in 1994, covered 2,000 years in the life of the city and its people, and won wide praise.

He has been a visiting professor at UCLA, Princeton University and Stanford University.

Porter was married and divorced three times.