Finished Mo 12/27/21 during the Covid Pandemic of 2021
This is one of my ancient hardback books that I had never read, but purchased at Barnes and Noble on Friday, 7/23/93.
Cartwright is a medical historian and Biddiss is a professor of history at Cambridge University.
The first 'big plague' was Black Death which occurred mid 14th century.
Malaria might have been more catastrophic for the Roman Empire than the attacks of the Goths and the vandals.
Black Death definitely hastened the end of feudalism.
Syphilis had an impact on the reign of Ivan the Terrible.
Did disease have a more powerful impact on indigenous South Americans than Cortez and his army?
Did hemophilia contribute to the fall of the Russian monarchy in 1917?
Romans fresh water system was unrivaled until the 20th century.
Measles is a sub-set of small pox.
The authors treated mental illness also.
A reader on Amazon:
"It’s hard to say what I liked best about the book, since it was all very compelling. The chapter on the evolution of syphilis and its impact on some important historical figures, such as Henry VIII, however, was of particular interest. The same can be said for the pages dealing with England’s King George III’s suffering and death from porphyria, how typhus decimated Napoleon’s Grand Army leading to his defeat at Moscow, and how his later defeat at Waterloo was largely due to his being ill at the time. But most interestingly, at least to me, was the indirect manner in which England’s Queen Victoria, through her progeny, contributed greatly to the downfall of Russia’s Romanoff Dynasty and the rise of the Soviet Union. And, let’s not forget the chapter on the bubonic plague or the book’s final chapter, which describes how man’s efforts to overcome the diseases which have plagued mankind throughout history, may, if not controlled, lead to mankind’s ultimate demise."
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