The American Plague
The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic That Shaped Our History

I'm always surprised by how much we collectively forget about our past. This book sucked me right in, and made me very, very glad that I wasn't born 100 years ago. It chronicles the history of Yellow Fever in the United States, and the effort led by Dr. Walter Reed to understand, and eradicate, the......more

This is a fascinating story, but very poorly written. And also poorly edited. There are confusing syntactical errors, idioms the author (weirdly) doesn't get quite right, as if she isn't a native English speaker, and the overall tone is maudlin, overwrought, and florid. The story is quite compelling......more

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Paul Woodson. It is hard to put a star rating on a story of this kind. It was well done and scary as hell! The Army personal and doctors who gave their lives to prove how yellow fever was spread were amazing men and women. The real fact that this virus could......more

My interest in this book was piqued by a series that appeared our local newspaper. The summers of the 1870s in the south was a scary time to be alive. Just think about how bad mosquitoes are today and all the bites you get. Imagine not knowing that these little insects were the cause of whole familie......more

Fascinating and enjoyable book. Very informative. First, Crosby shows us Memphis before the epidemic - having a fine old time and then a ship comes to port bearing sick sailors from Cuba. Sailors sick with yellow fever (although often misdiagnosed as malaria). The wealthy pretty much leave town. The......more