In this national-bestselling account; a journalist traces the course of yellow fever; stopping in 1878 Memphis to "vividly [evoke] the Faulkner-meets-'Dawn of the Dead' horrors;"*-and moving on to today's strain of the killer virus. Over the course of history; yellow fever has paralyzed governments; halted commerce; quarantined cities; moved the U.S. capital; and altered the outcome of wars. During a single summer in Memphis alone; it cost more lives than the Chicago fire; the San Francisco earthquake; and the Johnstown flood combined. In 1900; the U.S. sent three doctors to Cuba to discover how yellow fever was spread. There; they launched one of history's most controversial human studies. Compelling and terrifying; The American Plague depicts the story of yellow fever and its reign in this country-and in Africa; where even today it strikes thousands every year. With "arresting tales of heroism;"** it is a story as much about the nature of human beings as it is about the nature of disease.
#1428075 in Books 2005-03-10 2006-02-20Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 10.00 x .86 x 7.01l; 1.50 #File Name: 0415949165380 pages
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy deniseGood
