The Miraculous Fever-Tree
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.68 (644 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0006532357 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-08-14 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Both disease and cure have an extraordinary history. It turned back many of the travellers who explored west Africa and brought the building of the Panama Canal to a standstill. A rich and wonderful history of quinine – the cure for malaria.In the summer of 1623, ten cardinals and hundreds of their attendants, engaged in electing a new Pope, died from the 'mal'aria' or 'bad air' of the Roman marshes. More than any previous medicine, though, quinine forced physicians to change their ideas about treating illness. It killed thousands of British troops fighting Napoleon during the Walcheren raid on Holland in 1809 and many soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. Their choice, Pope Urban VIII, determined that a cure should be found for the fever that was the scourge of the Mediterranean, northern Europe and America, and in 1631 a young Jesuit apothecarist in Peru sent to the Old World a cure that had been found in the New – where the disease was unknown.The cure was quinine, a
Many have tried to tell this tale, and it is a testament to Rocco's flair and sheer hard work that she has found new things to say' Gail Vines, Independent'Fiammetta Rocco's wonderfully elegant book, drawing on previously undiscovered documents, attacks its subject as hungrily as a mosquito detecting its next meal' Philip Blackmore, Catholic Herald. 'This engrossing, beautifully crafted history is a parable for our times, I believe, underscoring the foolishness of men, with some rare exceptions, and the munificence of Nature' Adrian Hartley, Spectator'Absorbing and superbly
Fiammetta Rocco is the literary editor of the Economist.
The Miraculous Fever-Tree: Malaria, Medicine and the Cure that Changed the World K. J. Kalin Well-written and very interesting. I didn't know that malaria was such a problem in Europe, especially around Rome. It was even a big problem in England, which I never thought of as a malarial area. I can recommend this book very highly.I thought the Kindle edition was well-done. I haven't seen the "real" book, and the Kindle book was listed as "text only" so I'm not sure if there are maps and photos or illustrations in the hardback. That did delay my purchase of the Kindle edition. I had no navigational problems with it and the text was pretty much typo-free.