Jennifer Wright

Get Well Soon (eBook, ePUB)

History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A witty, irreverent tour of history's worst plagues-from the Antonine Plague, to leprosy, to polio-and a celebration of the heroes who fought them

In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon thirty-four more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-seventeenth-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome-a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure. And in turn-of-the-century New York, an Irish cook caused two lethal outbreaks of typhoid fever, a case that transformed her into the notorious Typhoid Mary.

Throughout time, humans have been terrified and fascinated by the diseases history and circumstance have dropped on them. Some of their responses to those outbreaks are almost too strange to believe in hindsight. Get Well Soon delivers the gruesome, morbid details of some of the worst plagues we've suffered as a species, as well as stories of the heroic figures who selflessly fought to ease the suffering of their fellow man. With her signature mix of in-depth research and storytelling, and not a little dark humor, Jennifer Wright explores history's most gripping and deadly outbreaks, and ultimately looks at the surprising ways they've shaped history and humanity for almost as long as anyone can remember.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Henry Holt and Co.
• Seitenzahl: 256
• Erscheinungstermin: 7. Februar 2017
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781627797474
• Artikelnr.: 45631898

Autorenporträt

Jennifer Wright is the author of six pop history books, most recently Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist. She has written for the New York Times, the New York Post and the New York Observer. Despite that, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Daniel Kibblesmith, and daughter. Her break-up days are hopefully behind her, but she would still split a pint of ice cream with you.

Inhaltsangabe

Only YOU can prevent plague . . .
Read This Book
Introduction 1
Elect Sane, Calm Leaders
Antonine Plague 7
Frogs Don't Save Lives; Reading History Books Does
Bubonic Plague 27
Try Being Nice Instead of Burning People as Witches
Dancing Plague 49
Spread the Word That Vaccines Are the Best
Smallpox 67
STD Shaming Leads to STD Spreading
Syphilis 89
Never Glamorize Ill Health
Tuberculosis 108
If You Want to Demonstrate Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong, Be Ready to Prove
Your Theory Thoroughly
Cholera 126
Know That One Good Person Can Make a Difference and That You Can Be That
Person
Leprosy 144
If You Are Diseased, Don't Deliberately Infect Other People
Typhoid 162
Censorship Kills
Spanish Flu 179
Keep Track of Medical Advances Because They Are Happening Faster than Ever
Encephalitis Lethargica 200
Don't Listen to Fast-Talking Charlatans with Few Medical Credentials
Lobotomies 216
Understand That When Communities, Leaders, and Scientists Work Together, We
Can Save the World
Polio 239
Learn from the Past
Epilogue 259
Notes 273
Sources 299
Acknowledgments 319
Illustration Credits 321