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cowluvr_29's review against another edition
3.0
kinda good!!! deffos the most interesting angle typa book I read for my history class !
patti134's review against another edition
4.0
I started reading this book because my son Ken is a GIS tech and this is usually regarded as an early victory for the skill. This book was very detailed, and had more info on the event than I had come across in earlier reading, specifically the initial transmission vector.
The miasma theory was interesting. While 'bad air' does not transmit disease, it can transmit other deadly or damaging toxins. Lead gasoline, anyone?
The miasma theory was interesting. While 'bad air' does not transmit disease, it can transmit other deadly or damaging toxins. Lead gasoline, anyone?
kathryn1193's review against another edition
3.0
Overall a very good book. Kind of lost me at some points and I felt like it could have been organized a little better, but I learned a lot about an interesting subject and it was told in a way I understood, which some authors really struggle with.
emmabeckman's review against another edition
3.0
I would definitely recommend this book as I think the topic is really fascinating and it does a fairly good job with the overview (I have nothing to compare to as yet so...). I didn't always love the writing style--it meandered quite a lot, in the "Before I tell you this, I need to give you all this context and to give you the context for that anecdote, I need to give you MORE context" way. It also seemed to make a weird attempt at imitating Dickens which I didn't love.
I definitely appreciated learning about Whitehead. I knew about John Snow but I didn't know anything about the curate who actually discovered Patient Zero. I also really liked reading about places that I actually spent a fair bit of time in when I was studying in London (there were coffee shops I liked on Berwick and Wardour).
While I understand the point of the epilogue, I really thought it was unnecessary. I enjoyed reading about the history and if I'm honest, the last 25 pages nearly gave me a panic attack. I wish this book had made a more general observation of the changing threats to the world without going into so much repetitive detail about terrorism and nuclear holocaust.
I definitely appreciated learning about Whitehead. I knew about John Snow but I didn't know anything about the curate who actually discovered Patient Zero. I also really liked reading about places that I actually spent a fair bit of time in when I was studying in London (there were coffee shops I liked on Berwick and Wardour).
While I understand the point of the epilogue, I really thought it was unnecessary. I enjoyed reading about the history and if I'm honest, the last 25 pages nearly gave me a panic attack. I wish this book had made a more general observation of the changing threats to the world without going into so much repetitive detail about terrorism and nuclear holocaust.
xkrow's review against another edition
3.5
This was less of a narrative-nf than I was led to believe given his references to it in Enemy of All Mankind, but its still a pretty engaging and thought provoking book on disease, cities, and humanity.
You get copious details on the various ways London was a scavenger town; a town so full of shit that various professions popped up to deal with bits and pieces of in a mimicry of nature's evolutionary niches. We also spend a lot of time (in my opinion a little bit too much) on the air-borne theories of disease that was wide-spread in this period of history. It makes sense given its central tale of Jon Snow (yes, that was his name) and Henry Whitehead developing and testing the waterborne theory of cholera, but it did start to feel pretty repetitive as he hit on the same point again and again.
Johnson's writing style was again very easy to understand and follow, and while he had a tendency to wander, it did all wrap together at the end. I was surprised by the final chapter's deep focus on the nature of cities as a concept and where we might go in the future. It was a nice ending to the various themes that come up throughout the book, ones of disease mapping and human settlements.
Overall, would recommend to anyone interested in learning about London's festering nature and the development of medicine, but not to someone more interested in a historical story.
You get copious details on the various ways London was a scavenger town; a town so full of shit that various professions popped up to deal with bits and pieces of in a mimicry of nature's evolutionary niches. We also spend a lot of time (in my opinion a little bit too much) on the air-borne theories of disease that was wide-spread in this period of history. It makes sense given its central tale of Jon Snow (yes, that was his name) and Henry Whitehead developing and testing the waterborne theory of cholera, but it did start to feel pretty repetitive as he hit on the same point again and again.
Johnson's writing style was again very easy to understand and follow, and while he had a tendency to wander, it did all wrap together at the end. I was surprised by the final chapter's deep focus on the nature of cities as a concept and where we might go in the future. It was a nice ending to the various themes that come up throughout the book, ones of disease mapping and human settlements.
Overall, would recommend to anyone interested in learning about London's festering nature and the development of medicine, but not to someone more interested in a historical story.
katiescho741's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars.
This is less a bout about a disease than it is a book about scientific investigation and data gathering.
The most interesting bit of the book, for me, was the starting couple of chapters which talk about the conditions of London during the period, and how diseases like cholera cropped up again and again. The descriptions of the living conditions are detailed and terrible, but it was interesting to read about the eco side of life too - the lives of the scavengers who collected rubbish to be sold and re-used instead of clogging up the street.
Not quite a history of cholera as I had hoped, but there is plenty of good information in this book. The second half was a bit boring to be honest though.
This is less a bout about a disease than it is a book about scientific investigation and data gathering.
The most interesting bit of the book, for me, was the starting couple of chapters which talk about the conditions of London during the period, and how diseases like cholera cropped up again and again. The descriptions of the living conditions are detailed and terrible, but it was interesting to read about the eco side of life too - the lives of the scavengers who collected rubbish to be sold and re-used instead of clogging up the street.
Not quite a history of cholera as I had hoped, but there is plenty of good information in this book. The second half was a bit boring to be honest though.