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and commerce, teeming with people from all over the world, continually pushing the limits of infrastructure that's outdated as soon as it's updated.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)

This book is a must.

Great ideas are discussed here. Slowly but in a powerful manner has the author presented the case of Cholera outbreaks in London and how were they managed. It is a great example of how change doesn't come abruptly, but progresses slowly.

Hard to follow

This was all over the place. It tells the story of the outbreak of cholera in a London but it’s very hard to follow and then goes into modern day public health.

Outstanding

For all those interested in public health, biostatistics, epidemiology, polution, city planning, civil engineering, anthropology, sociology, industrial hygiene, & victorian history this is a wondrful way to spend about 6 hours. The reader is the books equal, both are impressive.

Brilliant

This is an analysis exceptionally rich in perspective. Johnson brings a multidisciplinary approach to the subject that is just as fascinating as the approach of Dr. Snow that Johnson recounts.

Johnson then uses similar breadth to analyze the impact on our time, and our near-to-medium term future, of the cholera outbreak and the lessons learned from it. While one may agree or disagree with his conclusions, they are solidly based and cogently argued.

To label his conclusions as socialist is to confuse socialism with sociology.

Wow!

OK, it sounds like a history of cholera would be a real snoozer, but I was riveted by the construction of the mystery and its solution. Lots of great history in it, if you like health or technology topics. The epilogue is one of the most thought-provoking pieces on urban life I've listened to in a while.

London Cholera Epidemic of 1854

Excellent audiobook on the state of sanitation and the medical community in what was the most advanced civilized society of the times. Individual stories, explanations of medical theories, and the moral beliefs in London just as cities became magnets for jobseekers are all explained clearly, drawing a clear picture of what it must have been like to be poor in London at the time. Though narrated with an American accent, it was well performed.

informative; good narration

While I once believed that one could not read (hear) too much detail about Victorian London poop, this turns out to not be so. But I learned a good deal and did want to understand the famous Broad Street pump episode. Sadly, it is another tale of science and learned men stuck in a dusty paradigm.

Real life is SO much more interesting than fiction!

I’ve read this twice. There are some great YouTube videos, too. There’s a Dr. John Snow Society, with a killer coffee mug, that I’m joining. Epidemiology and statistical analysis are fascinating, as is waste management and sewer system design for large cities. If any of this interests you, then this is your book.

And in case you’re totally into catastrophic afflictions, like cholera in this case, you’re bound to be satisfied.

Dawn of epidemiology

This is a well written, well researched history. The author it clear when a point is just not known (this is good), and he makes excellent connections between the epidemic and science of Victorian England and that of today. The epilogue, which is perhaps overlong, is an interesting, well thought out extension of his subject to the world today and in the future. It's well narrated. An interesting 8 hours which might have been an even more interesting 7.

Reads like a thriller

Not just a story about a cholera outbreak, but a glimpse into life in mid-1800 London. While we walked the streets searching for the cause of the disease, we also learned little bits of side-bar worthy information such as the hierarchy of medical professionals at that time and the early use of anesthesia in surgery and childbirth. The story was over and I still had two hours left. The last two hours were really worth the book, in my opinion. It gave me a new perspective on modern city living.

Well written in a nice narrative style, it reads like a bio-terrorist thriller. It also prompted a very lively book group discussion.