• Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World

  • By: Irwin W. Sherman
  • Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
  • Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)

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Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World  By  cover art

Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World

By: Irwin W. Sherman
Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
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Publisher's summary

This book covers the history of 12 important diseases and addresses public health responses and societal upheavals.

  • Chronicles the ways disease outbreaks shaped traditions and institutions of Western civilization.
  • Explains the effects, causes, and outcomes from past epidemics.
  • Describes a dozen diseases to show how disease control either was achieved or failed.
  • Makes clear the interrelationship between diseases and history.
  • Presents material in a compelling, clear, and jargon-free prose for a wide audience.
  • Provides a picture of the best practices for dealing with disease outbreaks.
©2007 ASM Press (P)2021 Tantor

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this more than I did.

Lately I have been on a medical history book binge. So when this one came up, I figured it fell right into that theme. I was not fond of the narrator but stuck with it. It's very science-y, which is fine but I thought it was a little much for a book that's not a text book. I almost gave up at the halfway point when a long list of people who were afflicted with a particular disease was read with each one's birth and death dates. So not necessary. I skipped ahead as it seemed to go on forever and my mind had wandered off to wonder just how long the list would be.
I truly wanted to like this book. I have found other books on medical history I have enjoyed more. There is a lot of information here and a really interesting part that nearly foreshadows the COVID pandemic is a way that was eerily correct.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

And illuminating book.

I enjoyed the book very much. I did not care for the narrator, but the story of the history and the science were fascinating.

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