America's First Plague: The Deadly 1793 Epidemic that Crippled a Young Nation
by Robert P. Watson
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"In 1793, the interim capital city of Philadelphia was struck by a mysterious malady that ended up killing at least one-tenth of the population, prompting an evacuation, and shutting down the nascent federal government, resulting in shocking parallels to recent pandemics and offering important political lessons"--Tags
Member Reviews
A mysterious disease spreads. Health authorities disagree over its source, how to stop its spread, and how to treat it. Misinformation abounds. People resist public health measures. The illness becomes politicized. No, this book isn't about COVID-19 in 2020. It's all about the yellow fever epidemic that struck Philadelphia in 1793.
This book is a fascinating look at a public health crisis in the time of George Washington's presidency. The parallels to 2020 are striking. Watson has clearly demonstrated the chaos which ensued as a deadly disease spread through the city which, at that time, served as the young nation's capital.
Watson has done his research thoroughly, as attested by the pages of endnotes.
My one complaint is that there is show more quite a bit of redundancy, as the same points are made over and over again. A bit of judicious editing would have been helpful.
I received am e-galley from Edelweiss in exchange for an objective review. show less
This book is a fascinating look at a public health crisis in the time of George Washington's presidency. The parallels to 2020 are striking. Watson has clearly demonstrated the chaos which ensued as a deadly disease spread through the city which, at that time, served as the young nation's capital.
Watson has done his research thoroughly, as attested by the pages of endnotes.
My one complaint is that there is show more quite a bit of redundancy, as the same points are made over and over again. A bit of judicious editing would have been helpful.
I received am e-galley from Edelweiss in exchange for an objective review. show less
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Author Information
33 Works 306 Members
Robert P. Watson, Distinguished Professor of American History at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, is author of many books on American history and politics including, most recently, The Nazi Titanic: The Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II, The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn: The Untold Story of the American Revolution, and Affairs of show more State: The Untold Story of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal, 1789-1900. show less
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 614.5 — Applied science & technology Medicine & health Epidemics, Poisons, Alternative Medicine Incidence of and public measures to prevent specific diseases and kinds of diseases
- LCC
- RC211 .P5 .W38 — Medicine Internal medicine Internal medicine Infectious and parasitic diseases
- BISAC
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- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
