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toddie's review against another edition
3.0
actually really interesting for a book whose entire contents revolve around a poopy diaper. i read this in a single day for class please be proud of me
bookwoman1967's review
2.0
The author claims that "this book is a historical narrative of the events of September 1854 in London based on the many surviving eyewitness accounts and the exhaustive investigations by the authorities in the months after the outbreak subsided." THAT book I would have liked to have read. However, this is not that book. Instead I would say it is a brief account the cholera outbreak and its aftermath, with way too much musing on the flow of ideas and the nature of cities. No, I do not need to read a thorough analysis of New York's 311 service, at least not here. And the way-too-long epilogue exploring the author's ideas of ways to destroy modern cities made me want to scream. What I would have liked to have seen instead would be more exploration of John Snow himself. I felt I got as much information on him from the wikipedia page as I did from this book. More exploration of his life would have been a book worth reading.
jordan_linder's review against another edition
2.0
Felt like I was reading a history book. Informative, but dry.
lazy_raven's review
4.0
Very nerdy but very good. Follows how it was discovered that Cholera is water born. Was written before the Covid endemic but the last few chapters say how a new pandemic would most likely happen and how deadly it could be.
musicalpopcorn's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Chronicles the outbreak of cholera in 19th century London that ultimately led to a new scientific way of seeing disease.
The first two thirds of the book were very interesting. Learning about the cholera outbreak and how Snow traced it to the well, as well as the other facts was fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the brief description of the history of anesthetic.
The epilogue kind of threw me off a bit. It felt almost rambly, and I was struggling to connect all the talk about terrorism and nuclear attacks to cholera and Snow. It was interesting to listen to it post-Covid, given that the book was written well before the pandemic, but it was still very strange.
The first two thirds of the book were very interesting. Learning about the cholera outbreak and how Snow traced it to the well, as well as the other facts was fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the brief description of the history of anesthetic.
The epilogue kind of threw me off a bit. It felt almost rambly, and I was struggling to connect all the talk about terrorism and nuclear attacks to cholera and Snow. It was interesting to listen to it post-Covid, given that the book was written well before the pandemic, but it was still very strange.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
cinda_lu's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This was a great book! Very informative and well written. I really liked how the author wrote (and he seemed to inject a sense of subtle humor throughout). The only thing I didn't like was how long the ending was. The Conclusion and Epilogue could have been half as long in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
abaugher's review against another edition
5.0
exhaustive research into the cholera epidemic in victorian london AND all the directly and indirectly extenuating circumstances surrounding it.
abso-effin-lutly loved it!
abso-effin-lutly loved it!