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Plague: A Story of Science, Rivalry, and the Scourge That Won't Go Away
“You thought the bubonic plague had gone the way of powdered wigs? Try It could happen anytime. Edward Marriott’s dramatic, gripping new book gives you yet another thing to worry about.” — New York
Plague. The very word carries an unholy resonance. No other disease can claim its apocalyptic it can lie dormant for centuries, only to resurface with nation-killing force. Here, with the high drama of an adventure tale, Edward Marriott unravels the story of this lethal the historic battle to identify its source, the devastating effects of pandemics, and the prospects for new outbreaks. Marriott begins the trail in Hong Kong in the summer of 1894, when a plague diagnosis brought to the island two top scientists—Alexandre Yersin, a maverick Frenchman, and his Japanese rival, Shibasaburo Kitasato. Marriott interweaves the narrative of their fierce competition with vivid scenes of the scourge’s California in 1900; Surat, India, in 1994; and New York City sometime in the future.
A masterly account of medical and human history, Plague is at once an instructive warning and a chilling read.
Plague. The very word carries an unholy resonance. No other disease can claim its apocalyptic it can lie dormant for centuries, only to resurface with nation-killing force. Here, with the high drama of an adventure tale, Edward Marriott unravels the story of this lethal the historic battle to identify its source, the devastating effects of pandemics, and the prospects for new outbreaks. Marriott begins the trail in Hong Kong in the summer of 1894, when a plague diagnosis brought to the island two top scientists—Alexandre Yersin, a maverick Frenchman, and his Japanese rival, Shibasaburo Kitasato. Marriott interweaves the narrative of their fierce competition with vivid scenes of the scourge’s California in 1900; Surat, India, in 1994; and New York City sometime in the future.
A masterly account of medical and human history, Plague is at once an instructive warning and a chilling read.
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 4, 2010
Not a bad book, but also not what I was expecting. The book focuses nearly entirely on the people involved in various plague outbreaks; on the doctors who discovered the cause, on the politicians who got in the way, and on a newspaper reporter caught in a recent outbreak in India. There is very little discussion of the disease itself, not much more information on plague beyond what you might find in a high school science or history book. I was thinking this would be similar to Carl Zimmer's book 'Microcosm' which discussed both the history and biology of e. coli in great depth. The discovery history is interesting, though it feels somehow cramped, which is probably due to a lack of sources to flesh it out in further detail and relation to other events.
The chapters about more recent outbreaks in India and Madagascar were something of a distraction, breaking the flow of the 1890's narrative. They also didn't really seem to add much to the book other than to illustrate that the class/racial tensions in former colonies persist to this day, that plague still causes panic when it is discovered, and that politicians are still loathe to accept that it occurs. Had they been grouped together after the 1890's story was completed, instead of scattered throughout, it would have been more clear.
Perhaps I am unusual in preferring my science books more loaded with hard information than with character portraits of the scientists, but this book left me unsatisfied. This is probably a fine book for the average person who would like to read about a determined oddball of a scientist beating out the famous-but-ultimately-wrong scientist to discovering the cause of one of mankind's greatest fears. But for someone who really wants to know the detailed biology, they'll have to find that somewhere else.
The chapters about more recent outbreaks in India and Madagascar were something of a distraction, breaking the flow of the 1890's narrative. They also didn't really seem to add much to the book other than to illustrate that the class/racial tensions in former colonies persist to this day, that plague still causes panic when it is discovered, and that politicians are still loathe to accept that it occurs. Had they been grouped together after the 1890's story was completed, instead of scattered throughout, it would have been more clear.
Perhaps I am unusual in preferring my science books more loaded with hard information than with character portraits of the scientists, but this book left me unsatisfied. This is probably a fine book for the average person who would like to read about a determined oddball of a scientist beating out the famous-but-ultimately-wrong scientist to discovering the cause of one of mankind's greatest fears. But for someone who really wants to know the detailed biology, they'll have to find that somewhere else.
March 13, 2020
This was an exciting collection of perspectives, and responses to plague, and it's impact to a community. The 1894 Hong Kong Plague lead to developments in understanding epidemiological impacts on global community health, and shined a light on clinical standards and aseptic technique. Two adversary bacteriologists race to discover the bacteria responsible for the disease, while it takes time for someone to question the origin of the disease, and proper ways to decrease incidences. It was a unique experience to read a book on plague in parallel with the Covid-19 outbreak. With access to any media outlet at our fingertips the amount of panic, misinformation, and prejudice in our current climate seems somewhat like a magnified version of Hong Kong in the tail end of the 19th century, or Surat in 1994.
November 18, 2013
When I saw this book in the library, I almost didn't pick it up. I have read a lot about plague and thought it might not be very different. However, after checking out the summary, I took it home.It is a great read- almost like a novel. It is the true story of a plague outbreak in Hong Kong in 1894 and the panic misery and death that followed. Also the politics, the blame (mostly on the unhygienic living conditions of the poorer Chinese.)Trade and commerce almost completely stopped, houses and shops were abandoned and some destroyed. Thousands tried to flee the city. Into the maelstrom arrived a Japanese scientist, Kitasato,and his entourage, who had studied under Koch in Germany and made a name for himself. They were warmly welcomed by the English governor Lowson and given lab space, cadavers to study and lodgings. Arriving about the same time was a taciturn Frenchman, Alexandre Yersin, who had studied at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. He was brilliant but not gregarious and not well known at the time but brilliant and an adventurer who had spent some time in the Far East, mostly in Vietnam. [I visited his laboratory in Nha Trang several years ago. It is now a museum.]
Yersin was not only ignored by Lowson and others, he was actively prevented from acquiring appropriate lab space or working on any deceased plague victims. Struggling on, he had a sturdy hut built, managed to get some lab equipment, and bribed some morgue attendants to supply body fluids from some victims.
In the end, Yersin, through scientific know-how and persistence, was able to determine the causative agent and the means of infection. The organism bears his name: Yersinia pestis.
The author also intersperses chapters on a plague epidemic in India that took place a hundred years later-1994. The plague is treatable, although there have been some resistant bacilli found, but more importantly it is preventable through appropriate public health and sanitation measures. When we let down our guard in these areas we are providing an opening for new outbreaks of this terrible disease.
I highly recommend this book!
Yersin was not only ignored by Lowson and others, he was actively prevented from acquiring appropriate lab space or working on any deceased plague victims. Struggling on, he had a sturdy hut built, managed to get some lab equipment, and bribed some morgue attendants to supply body fluids from some victims.
In the end, Yersin, through scientific know-how and persistence, was able to determine the causative agent and the means of infection. The organism bears his name: Yersinia pestis.
The author also intersperses chapters on a plague epidemic in India that took place a hundred years later-1994. The plague is treatable, although there have been some resistant bacilli found, but more importantly it is preventable through appropriate public health and sanitation measures. When we let down our guard in these areas we are providing an opening for new outbreaks of this terrible disease.
I highly recommend this book!
November 29, 2011
I was worried this was going to be written in technical terms and hard to understand but since the subject interests me so much I gave it a whirl. I learned more about the plague than I probably will ever need to know and found it a fascinating read. It was very informative on plague and the two men credited with isolating where it originated from. Delved into not only their professional lives but their personal ones and a pretty rounded out history of this dreaded disease that I know now lies in wait to pounce once again on an unsuspecting populace. Frightening!
June 12, 2022
Interesting read. The only issue I had with it was the way the chapters jumped around from place to place and from one time to another. It was disruptive to the flow of reading. One minute I'm in Hong Kong in the late 1890s the next I'm in Surat, India in late 1990s or I'm in Viet Nam or California. It was sometimes confusing and the thread of the story sometimes seemed to get lost.
That aside, I enjoyed learning about people who put their own lives in danger to discover the cause of the disease. It was also very interesting to learn how general populations and governments reacted/responded to the disease and how very little has changed in light of the last few years with COVID. This book was published in 2002 and is about the dreaded bubonic plague and yet we are still dealing with very similar issues regarding COVID:
1) People who don't believe there's a dangerous disease at all
2) People who over-react and panic
3) People who believe it's some kind of conspiracy
4) People don't/won't/can't believe the scientists/medical people
5) Governments that ignore the warning signs or pretend there isn't a problem
6) Governments that don't educate their populations in a timely manner
7) Governments that don't believe the scientists/medical people
What was frightening to learn is that bubonic and pneumonic plague have never gone away, that they still exists in every country of the world and that even in the United States a few people get it every year. But most frightening of all is that new strains are popping up, strains that are resistant to our strongest antibiotics and that the possibility of a world-wide epidemic of the plague is not all that far-fetched.
The question is, will we the people and our governments take it seriously if it becomes a serious threat or will we, one more time, ignore the signs, symptoms, and science?
That aside, I enjoyed learning about people who put their own lives in danger to discover the cause of the disease. It was also very interesting to learn how general populations and governments reacted/responded to the disease and how very little has changed in light of the last few years with COVID. This book was published in 2002 and is about the dreaded bubonic plague and yet we are still dealing with very similar issues regarding COVID:
1) People who don't believe there's a dangerous disease at all
2) People who over-react and panic
3) People who believe it's some kind of conspiracy
4) People don't/won't/can't believe the scientists/medical people
5) Governments that ignore the warning signs or pretend there isn't a problem
6) Governments that don't educate their populations in a timely manner
7) Governments that don't believe the scientists/medical people
What was frightening to learn is that bubonic and pneumonic plague have never gone away, that they still exists in every country of the world and that even in the United States a few people get it every year. But most frightening of all is that new strains are popping up, strains that are resistant to our strongest antibiotics and that the possibility of a world-wide epidemic of the plague is not all that far-fetched.
The question is, will we the people and our governments take it seriously if it becomes a serious threat or will we, one more time, ignore the signs, symptoms, and science?
March 30, 2018
A very interesting story of the discovery of the plague bacillus including the rivalry between the supposed discovery a Japanese bacteriologist and the actual discoverer, a French pathologist trained at the Pasteur Institute. Lots of politics in denying that the plague even exists when it strikes. The plague is everywhere in the world now and if society falls apart, it can easily return—it has a 60% mortality in 3 days. Very scary stuff.
May 23, 2020
İt is quite an actual book the story of a pandemic disease and the struggle of a French and Japanese to stop it. The pandemia starts in Hong Kong in 1894 summer and goes to California (1900) Surat İndia ( 1994) and New York City later. İt is like we are living the whole story again. The book is well written and shows us that nothing escapes human intelligence. İt's really a fascinating account and a good warning since this book has been written in 2002
March 18, 2020
Interesting historical account of the two men searching for the cause of the bubonic plague in Asia. One was heavily favored and supported, the other ignored and mocked. Guess who figured it out and did significant work on a vaccine for it? The underdog (yay!). You will read the story of Dr. Yersin’s contribution to the discovery of Yetsinia pestis!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2023
The author did a great job describing chronologically what occurred. I do think that he defended Yersin’s results compared to Kitasoto. He does well to defend his argument that Yersin discovered the baculli of plague though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2012
You probably think of Bubonic Plague as an ancient disease that disappeared long ago. Not so. This is a modern history of the disease, focusing on the great Pandemic that originated in Hong Kong in 1894. From Hong Kong, Bubonic Plague spread throughout the world to many places-including the United States It appeared in San Francisco at that time, for example. After reaching North America, Plague became entrenched in wild rodents in the American West. The result is that we have a few human cases just about every year in the U.S. today that are transmitted from contact with infected wild rodents).
Two early Microbiologists (Yersin, a student of Pasteur, and Kitasato, a student of Koch) went to Hong Kong at the onset of the modern Pandemic to try to isolate the bacterium that causes the disease. The story of those early scientific expeditions and the rivalry that ensued is one of the great tales of modern science. That story is little known, but this author brings it back to life. Since then, there have been many devastating infectious diseases (HIV, SARS, and others) that have engendered similar scientific quests and rivalries. I have worked with Plague back in the 1960s when we had troops exposed to it in Vietnam, and can vouch for the accuracy of this fine modern history of the disease. Yersin, who is credited with the most accurate description of the plague bacilllus, is a hero to me, and to the Vietnamese. Yersin was a French colonialist who emigrated to Vietnam and lived there for the rest of his life. I would like to read a detailed biography of him if one is available today.
Two early Microbiologists (Yersin, a student of Pasteur, and Kitasato, a student of Koch) went to Hong Kong at the onset of the modern Pandemic to try to isolate the bacterium that causes the disease. The story of those early scientific expeditions and the rivalry that ensued is one of the great tales of modern science. That story is little known, but this author brings it back to life. Since then, there have been many devastating infectious diseases (HIV, SARS, and others) that have engendered similar scientific quests and rivalries. I have worked with Plague back in the 1960s when we had troops exposed to it in Vietnam, and can vouch for the accuracy of this fine modern history of the disease. Yersin, who is credited with the most accurate description of the plague bacilllus, is a hero to me, and to the Vietnamese. Yersin was a French colonialist who emigrated to Vietnam and lived there for the rest of his life. I would like to read a detailed biography of him if one is available today.
June 16, 2009
You would not think a book about two scientist competing with each other to find the cause of Bubonic Plague would be so interesting, but this was fascinating. Japanese researcher Shibasaburo Kitasato and French bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin were in a race with time in Hong Kong in the late 19th century. Shibasaburo Kitasato was a brilliant scientist with a world wide reputation. He had a lab and funding to carry out his research in Hong Kong. Alexandre Yersin was on an extremely limited budget and was forced to research on the plague ships in the harbor and yet is was Yersin who discovered the key to the way the plague was spread. He was also the first to discover a vaccine.
March 24, 2009
From the third person perspective, Marriott did a great job in narrating the plague in different parts of the world and the rivalry between two scientists.
A significant deliberation of the book was on the plague in 1894 Hong Kong. Marriott did a vast research on the people and the historical background of the area. Like in a trance, I found myself time-traveled to the imaginary black and white era and seeing things through his narration.
This is a good beginner's book for those who are interested in the history of plague. A good read.
A significant deliberation of the book was on the plague in 1894 Hong Kong. Marriott did a vast research on the people and the historical background of the area. Like in a trance, I found myself time-traveled to the imaginary black and white era and seeing things through his narration.
This is a good beginner's book for those who are interested in the history of plague. A good read.
May 31, 2009
This book is an entertaining and scary look at plague, and how easily and recently it could be/ has been upon us again. Interestingly, I had read this book before, but didn't remember it until I had read a few chapters. And by then I was hooked enough to want to re-read it. The rivalry between the humble Swiss virologist and the lauded (and incorrect) Japanese scientist is fascinating, and the included photographs are a nice plus.
April 24, 2014
I really enjoyed the parallel stories of a modern day outbreak and the search for the bacillus and the source responsible for the plague. It is rather sad to me that Yersin likely never knew how truly his research was vindicated. Interesting to see that corruption and favoritism even negatively impacted scientific research in the 1890's. I enjoyed the whole book except the chapter about rats. That was freaky.
March 23, 2015
I thought the black plague was a thing of the past – but it isn’t. This book was very readable and I enjoyed the different story lines – the researchers trying to figure it out during an outbreak in the late 1800s, following someone during a more recent outbreak in the 1990s and some history interspersed. I had no idea there were plague outbreaks in the U.S. and it’s something that could theoretically still happen today.
May 25, 2016
A good read, easy and interesting----all on a pretty grim subject. A little bit of history, a bit of science, some sociology and politics, it's all here. For anyone who likes popular science and the history of disease, this is a great book. Even for someone who doesn't usually read science, this is certainly worth a try if one is at all interested in the subject. This isn't "Black Death" circa Middle Ages----it is plague circa 20th and 21st century.
December 31, 2022
Really loved the story of Yersin and Hetal but the last 100 or so pages didn't have the biggest focus on then and was more trying to persuade the audience into a certain position which I did not enjoy. It also took me almost 2 months to read mainly because I didn't feel that enough of the good stories were there to keep me focused.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2009
Who would guess that the story of two scientists vying in the 1890's for the honor of being the first to discover the bacteria that causes the plague would prove so dramatic! Well told, easy to read and mesmerizing, this book is a good read for anyone interested in science or disease.
November 14, 2007
now i know that there are squirrels in northern california that have fleas carrying the bubonic plague, among other things. a pretty interesting read though.
November 24, 2007
Quite an interesting history of the black plague (focusing on later outbreaks in Asia and even the US) and the scientists who discovered the bacillus and mode of transmission.
March 31, 2008
A history of the 1894 Hong Kong plague.
January 5, 2011
Not heavy on the science involved - more character portraits and news-report-like descriptions of the plague incidents. Informative though.
January 15, 2011
Not much science, only a slight rivalry, and not much information on the scrouge
June 6, 2011
This is about the discovery of how the bubonic plague is spread. It reads like a novel. The book left me wanting to know more about Alexandre Yersin, a fascinating person. Well written.
January 28, 2012
Very interesting book.
April 24, 2012
This is nonfiction but reads like a dramatic fiction. Fascinating.
October 21, 2014
Wish there could have been a little more detail about the impact of the Hong Kong research in the scientific community, but this is a very well written book none-the-less.
April 7, 2017
A scary account of what may have happened during the epidemic of the bubonic plane. Additionally, the possibility that the plague could reoccur. It is still around.
October 4, 2017
well written Mainly about 1890 Plague ..also showed how little people have grown in there understanding of how to cope with a outbreak
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews