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and commerce, teeming with people from all over the world, continually pushing the limits of infrastructure that's outdated as soon as it's updated.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

You'll Never Take Clean Water for Granted Again

Truly a fascinating look at one of the unsung heroes of city development and management - wastewater removal and treatment. One small slip and we're all at risk to water-borne diseases such as cholera. I also appreciated the solid look at overcoming scientific hysteria to find fact. I doubt that the author meant to be quite so ironic when he listed his support at the end of the text for several current issues that may themselves turn out to be just as hysterical as miasma was in the 19th century.

A solid story with excellent character development, a good mystery, and plenty of every day relevance. I just wish I had stopped before listening to the socialist screed in the appendix, but I suppose that was probably Johnson's motivation for writing the book.

Good Read

Very interesting! But a few too many tangents. Doesn't ruin it though. It was a good Read.

Educational

It was interesting and educational. At times, it was boring, but overall, I'm glad I heard it. I would recommend it.

Needed editing, narration drove me crazy

This review is a review of two things, the book and the audio.

The book: The account of the story of the Broad Street cholera epidemic is interesting and well-explained, but the author does have a habit of heading off into tangents and then snapping back which broke the chain of the story. Nevertheless, the first 2/3 if the book is good. The problem comes when the author deviates from telling a history and dives into opinion and prognostications.

His understanding of modern public health was superficial and led him to draw erroneous conclusions. His clear love of cities is jarring to anyone who hates them and a prospect of a planet dominated by urban environments is horrifying and stupid. Food and many other resources come from the countryside. Much of the urban sprawl can be attributed to people trying to escape the densely populated areas.

in addition, I doubt the author has spent much time in the cities in the developing world. His indifference to the shantytowns and slums was appalling. I have been to places where shacks cover a broad area of town, no sanitation, no facilities of any kind. They burn their waste and the air reeks. They live hand to mouth, selling small goods by the roadside; food, drinks, small electronics, toilet paper, you name it. I have been offered some very unexpected things. Come here and tell me about cities as an engine of public health.

And his prediction about public reactions to a pandemic have turned out to be laughable in the face of COVID19. New Yorkers lost vast numbers of people and there was remarkably little panic or fear compared to the author's expectations.

It's a good book, just skip the end when he slips from history into polemic.

The audio: This could have been a lot better- the narrator had a monotone voice that did not do anything to show when he was reading the text and when he was reading a quotation. I had to rewind and listen again at a few points to figure it out, since it was important. Even the chapters were hard to differentiate from each other.

But most egregiously, the mispronunciation of names of streets, people, organisms and areas is abominable. There's no reason not look up how to say them properly. The mangling of Escherichia coli was unreal. And the weird pronunciation of Bermondsey was so bad, I actually had to take a minute to figure out what he was talking about. There are many other examples, too many to list here.

Buy the book, not the audio book. You'll enjoy it more and can more easily skip the sidebars and preaching.

This is a thinker’s kind of book

The writer puts you mentally in 19th century London with all of its awful human conditions. Then brings you through a step by step terrifying health crisis and opens the readers eyes as to how it could happen again with much higher human costs.

Fascinating view of fighting an epidemic

Steven Johnson's THE GHOST MAP is an amazing history about a few scientific and religious men who fought the mass destruction that cholera brought to Victorian London in the 1850's, and how it was tamed it at its source eventually - the water.
Sanitary conditions at that time were unimaginable. People were literally drinking sewage. They simply let the solids settle to the bottom of their buckets before ladeling it out. And millions died, often within 24 hours of being infected by cholera.
The book tells of the dedication of these men against backlash and ridicule from "knowledgeable" people, as well as the bacteria itself. There are details and statistics in the book but Johnson makes them interesting and readable.
And more astonishing is how the city undertook a massive project to remedy the problem.
There are warnings in the epilogue about germ warfare and pandemics loosed on the planet by rogue labs in the future. (Ha! This was written in 2015, how could he have known what would happen a mere 5 years later!)
The book is non-fiction at its very best.

(NOTE: He does promote Darwin and "denigrate" Intelligent creation in a couple minor places.)

Great Stuff!

I was already familiar with most of the story, but I loved the detail and personalities. It is not for the squeamish since it deals with sewage systems and human waste, but if you can get over that it is wonderful. It is *not* incongruous to be talking about sociology and mapmaking since this a premier example of mapmaking for sociology and medical science. One of the best science books I have heard.

Interesting History and Urban Geography

This book is really a hidden gem for history buffs. It did a lot to paint a portrait of the lives of the common folks of London, and by extension, other major cities of the mid-19th century. I found its insights into developments in public sanitation and its impact on modern cities very interesting. It also does a good job of showing how early scientists struggled to win support for ideas that we now view as obvious. Also, the book is great for illustrating how seemingly average people can have a big impact on their communities and the world. Finally, one thing it does is make me happy that I don't have to clean any cess-pits. Enjoy.

Could have been better...

Mostly really interesting, but it felt like there was a lot of filler and repetition, and it wasn't nearly as focused as I would have liked. Good information, just...fairly shallow and not put across as well as I felt it could have been. The narrator was good though...

There’s always more to the story

I thought I knew the story of the pump handle and why it was famous but there was much more to it and to John Snow than I knew. It’s a good book, well written and narrated, there were no drawn-out boring sections but you probably have to have some interest in public health history to want to know more about this particular episode.