The Ghost Map

By: Steven Johnson

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

This is a thrilling historical account of the worst cholera outbreak in Victorian London and a brilliant exploration of how Dr. John Snow's solution revolutionized the way we think about disease, cities, science, and the modern world.

The Ghost Map takes place in the summer of 1854. A devastating cholera outbreak seizes London just as it is emerging as a modern city: more than two million people packed into a 10-mile circumference, a hub of travel and commerce, teeming with people from all over the world, continually pushing the limits of infrastructure that's outdated as soon as it's updated. Dr. John Snow, whose ideas about contagion had been dismissed by the scientific community, is spurred to intense action when the people in his neighborhood begin dying. With enthralling suspense, Johnson chronicles Snow's day-by-day efforts as he risks his own life to prove how the epidemic is being spread.

From the dynamic thinker routinely compared to Malcolm Gladwell, E.O. Wilson, and James Gleick, The Ghost Map is a riveting story with a real-life historical hero. It brilliantly illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of viruses, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry. These are topics that have long obsessed Johnson, and The Ghost Map is a true triumph of the kind of multidisciplinary thinking for which he's become famous. This is a book that, like the work of Jared Diamond, presents both vivid history and a powerful and provocative explanation of what it means for the world we live in.

©2006 Steven Johnson (P)2006 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"An illuminating and satisfying read." (Publishers Weekly)
"A formidable gathering of small facts and big ideas." (New York Times Book Review)

When ur sliding into 1st & you feel a little burst

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audiobook to a friend. The beginning is captivating. The historical content is grasping. The studies of demographics, socio-graphics, map making, and science are interesting.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite characters are the people living in these Victorian times. I enjoyed the insight of the daily life.

What does Alan Sklar bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He seems to have a dry sense of humor that creeps in every once in a while.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did want to listen to it all in one sitting but it's too long.

Any additional comments?

diarrhea... cha cha cha... diarrhea

Interesting

This was very interesting, although at time it did tend to drag a bit. Despite that, the narration was good, and the topic and story kept the book moving along. Perfect length, I wouldn't have lasted too many hours more.

Nice historical listen until the final chapter.

This is my kind of book, I thought. I just finished it and was really turned off by the fear mongering and negativity of the final chapter. It's not that I disagree, it just seems to be disconnected from the book. It's wild theorizing all of a sudden and throws a lot of negativity into the ether. Skip it and you may walk away with a better taste. i really loved hearing about the water on Broad Street, but keep the fear porn out of my life please.

Far more interesting than expected

When I started this book I wasn't sure what to expect. It's a very interesting look at 1800s life in London and how those events still affect everyday life now.

Meh. If you like Jared Diamond, this is for you

This book is fine — it’s fine. And if you’re interested in medical / microbial history, then you’ll probably dig it, in a “merely adequate” kinda vein.

But I found it dull and overlong. (And I’m someone who has listened to, say, Hannah Arendt, and Gibbon’s “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” on audiobook — so I don’t demand a pulse-pounding narrative to stay tuned in.)

What made this book merely meh and increasingly tedious is the author’s overt effort to emulate books such as Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” covering 1001 topics under one meandering aegis.

It’s a formula of “expansive thoroughness” that hopes to simulate “profundity,” but in reality, it merely goes from exhaustive to exhausting.

The innumerable tangents and byways aren’t earned; they’re just sort of pointed out, one after another after another. Thorough, yet shallow.

When Robert Caro or Michel Foucault take you on such a sprawling tour, *then* it’s profound. Here — well, it’s fine.

Well written

Not just informative but entertaining.
Learning isn’t just historical but applies to current world.
I plan to read more from this author now.

Amazing Book

I love the structure and clear storyline of this book. I love all of Steven Johnson's work. If you are looking for another great title of Steven's, check out 'Enemy of All Mankind'.

Excellent, albeit disgusting

The Ghost Map is a fascinating account of the appalling conditions of mid-nineteenth century London and of an early exercise in medical detective work. The initial chapters are not for the squeamish, and are a poor choice for listening while eating lunch. They concern, in a word, feces -- of various species (sorry, I couldn't resist the rhyme) although chiefly human.

I think the beginning of the book was intended to give modern readers a healthy shock. (Fans of steampunk, for example, might do well to be reminded that the nineteenth century was not only the Age of Brass and Steam, but also of Filth and Stink -- or not, because steampunk is fantasy anyway. But I digress.) Johnson has interesting insights on how modernization and urbanization fostered disease. I'm not particularly a student of this era, so it was informative to me.

The later chapters of the book are less nauseating than the beginning, although the book is, from beginning to end, about a disease of the digestive tract. (See previous caution about listening and lunch.)

After finishing the book, I find that I have very little to say about the reader, which I think is a good thing. The reader enabled me to enjoy the book without getting in the way. This isn't perhaps the sort of glowing accolade that the reader would want to print out and tape onto his refrigerator or mail to his mother, but I consider it a compliment.

Ghost map review

Liked the book. It gave an in depth view of England in the days before science could cure . Hard to believe not that long ago. Human life was so fragile.

Great book

I totally recommend this book. It tells history in an actual story-like, interesting way. i laughed several times and was consistently interested throughout the entire book. lots of great ideas and information