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mhugie2's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this was well written and informative. I liked how the author made it so anyone from any science background could read this. It was very interesting learning about some of the first epidemic mapping occurred.
rhi_'s review
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Medical content and Classism
kieranhealy's review against another edition
5.0
I read this last year and it sure seems relevant now. Johnson tracks the heroics of two men, one a Doctor and the other a Reverend, while they try to figure out what is killing residents in London. It follows no real geographic bounds, class, age or gender. It kills horribly and indiscriminately. What is it, and how is it killing all these people?
This is a fantastic read. It is almost like a crime thriller where the killer is Cholera, and it’s a great introduction to basic epidemiology; how contact tracing works and is vital; public health outreach; etc. How we discover and contain diseases effectively can be partially traced to this moment in time, and it’s worth reading just for that alone. It is also just riveting.
Johnson does end it with some weird extrapolations and conclusions that haven’t born out well in reality, but up to that point the book is stellar.
This is a fantastic read. It is almost like a crime thriller where the killer is Cholera, and it’s a great introduction to basic epidemiology; how contact tracing works and is vital; public health outreach; etc. How we discover and contain diseases effectively can be partially traced to this moment in time, and it’s worth reading just for that alone. It is also just riveting.
Johnson does end it with some weird extrapolations and conclusions that haven’t born out well in reality, but up to that point the book is stellar.
sariene's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. The subject matter is perfectly up my alley, but this is just so poorly written that I couldn't enjoy it. The story he's ostensibly telling is a good one, and deserves a better treatment than it gets here. This telling is unfocused and mostly off-topic, not to mention that the author seems puffed up and writes in a much more grandiose and ostentatious tone than is necessary. Very disappointed.
rickwren's review against another edition
4.0
I love learning about specific times and events that help explain our world. This is one of those books - Cholera. It killed so many people and its causes were unknown. Treatments were a mystery because the medical establishment didn't know how Cholera killed victims.
John Snow - not the Night's Watch Commander from Song of Fire and Ice - the scientist and doctor of Victorian London studied the outbreak and traced it to the water - to the well - where the cholera originated. Together with skeptic Henry Whitehead, they figured out how to isolate and restrict transmission. They discovered the keys beyond the brutal killer and turned it into a terror of the past.
John Snow - not the Night's Watch Commander from Song of Fire and Ice - the scientist and doctor of Victorian London studied the outbreak and traced it to the water - to the well - where the cholera originated. Together with skeptic Henry Whitehead, they figured out how to isolate and restrict transmission. They discovered the keys beyond the brutal killer and turned it into a terror of the past.
hannahelaine's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
It would have been higher but the conclusion and epilogue were a combined quarter of the book (2 of 8 hours of the audiobook). Not only were those interminably long, but also full of conjecture about the future of cities, written in 2006. Some of that is cute (he loves cities so much, it’s really heartwarming). A lot isn’t (geo-tagging is a “near future”, and is even depressingly optimistic about how things were going to be in 2024. But mostly, it was just… not that much about the history?? Like. The book is history. It’s about Dr. John Snow figuring out that the Broad Street Pump was causing the cholera epidemic. But an ENTIRE QUARTER of the book isn’t about that at all. It’s him theorizing about a bunch of stuff that honestly, isn’t linked together particularly well.
Mostly good 3/4ths of the book, last quarter sucked. Also! Uh oh! 94% he’s starting to talk about global pandemics! Welp lol. Oh no. That wasn’t good. This guy is uh, VERY 2006-progressive-and-“could-never-see-how-trump-could-have-happened”-when-hes-playing-his-part-in-it-too. Very high and mighty.
The line abt Rev. Whitestone’s superpower as an amateur is him “being a local”? Loved that. We love community.
Mostly good 3/4ths of the book, last quarter sucked. Also! Uh oh! 94% he’s starting to talk about global pandemics! Welp lol. Oh no. That wasn’t good. This guy is uh, VERY 2006-progressive-and-“could-never-see-how-trump-could-have-happened”-when-hes-playing-his-part-in-it-too. Very high and mighty.
The line abt Rev. Whitestone’s superpower as an amateur is him “being a local”? Loved that. We love community.