This book combines two of my favorite interests - disease and popular history - and discusses not just history's worst plagues but also the way that societies and individuals responded to them.
I loved it.
Each chapter is a different plague and we learn about them in chronological order. The bubonic plague, smallpox, tuberculosis, cholera, most of them I'd heard of - several of them I hadn't, or if I had, I didn't have any context. This fleshed my history out for me and entertained me at the same time. Wright's writing is snarky and clever, she doesn't shy away from the dirty details and she does a good job of tying threads of history together. She veered towards the didactic sometimes, especially in the vaccine arena, but since I agreed with her and because she was so funny as she expressed her opinions on science, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I know disease books aren't for everyone, but they for sure are for me.
2 comments:
One of my favorite books is The Speckled Monster by Jennifer Lee Carrell about smallpox. I enjoyed the notes in the back thoroughly as well.
I find plague/disease books interesting as well, although I usually prefer fiction. This one sounds like it's both entertaining and educational. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the heads-up!
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