Product Description

Disease is the true 'serial killer' of human history: the horrors of bubonic plague, cholera, leprosy, syphilis, typhoid and the like have had a more devastating impact on humankind than the depredations of warfare, famine and natural disaster. And despite the many advances in treatment over the past two hundred years, disease continues to blight the lives of many millions today, especially in the countries of the developing world. Some of the diseases selected - malaria, rabies and tuberculosis, for example - are ancient in origin - possibly first occurring when humans and domestic animals began to live in close proximity. Others, notably AIDS, are 'new' to human society, emerging only in the recent past.And a few have seemingly come and gone. SARS - the latest of the new and easily transmissible diseases to emerge in the 21st century - spread around the globe in 2003, disappeared and has, so far, not re-appeared. Only one major disease covered in this book - smallpox - has, so far, been effectively eradicated by human intervention. This book is an enthralling, richly illustrated collection of tales of the terror and fascination of plague, pox and pestilence, and a concise and accessible history of disease and humankind's struggle against it over three millennia. It is a timely and revelatory work of popular social history by a writer whose knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, her subject shines out from her every word.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70582 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
This is an amazing book...written in clear and concise chapters and free of scientific jargon...lively and easily understandable essays - Western Daily Press

About the Author
Mary Dobson is a Research Associate of the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College, London, and an honorary member of Green College, Oxford. She took a first-class degree at Oxford in 1976 and was awarded her DPhil by the same university in 1981. She is an expert in the history of tropical and infectious diseases, with a particular interest in the relationships between disease and environment. She is the author of The Contours of Death and Disease in Early Modern England, a study of demography and epidemiology in 17th- and 18th-century England.

Customer Reviews

A great read!
This is a fascinating informative text which must appeal to a wide audience. As a nurse I enjoyed reading it but with the easy style and excellent illustrations it will appeal to anyone interested in health / disease and it's place in history. There must have been huge research into this book and it will be a useful adjunct to formal text books - it also will be a good converstation piece to have on your coffee table!