Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog. I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!
Blurb: From Steven Johnson, the dynamic thinker routinely compared to James Gleick, Dava Sobel, and Malcolm Gladwell, The Ghost Map is a riveting page-turner about a real-life historical hero, Dr. John Snow.
It's the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure—garbage removal, clean water, sewers—necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate are spurred to action—and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time. In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking, Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories and inter-connectedness of the spread of disease, contagion theory, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.
Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf: This one had really good reviews when it came out so I bought it and then of course have been letting it just hang out on my shelf. I just finished a book on medical history and found it fascinating so this one jumped up the TBR.
This sounds really interesting! I hope you get the chance to read it and review it. 📘
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have you read this and tell us if we should read it, too.
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