Steven Johnson: The Ghost Map
Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World is a standalone historical narrative. In the summer of 1854, London was hit by a deadly cholera epidemic. As the disease spreads, two locals are spurred into action. One is a reverend with an intimate knowledge of the local population. The other is a renowned physician with a radical theory on how diseases are spread. Both work independently to solve the century’s most important medical riddle and come to a groundbreaking conclusion.
Throughout the entirety of the book, Steven Johnson fights for his opinion that the cholera epidemic changed cities for the better. He argues that it destroyed the time’s prevailing theory about the spread of disease and replaced it with a more accurate one. He claims that this disease changed city planning, improved sanitation, and revolutionized public health. Facts and historical documents are both used to prove his case. Ultimately, this book presents a hopeful outlook on urbanization and the development of cities.
This book was a surprisingly interesting read. My obvious lack of reviews on nonfiction novels shows my lack of love for the genre. In fact, I wouldn’t have read this book without some level of provocation (a summer reading list). Despite this, I was pleasantly surprised. The book was about the spread of cholera and public sanitation. This means two things. The first is that the book spent a lot of time going into both the science and history of things like microbiology and human lifestyles. It educates you on the basics of high school microbiology, making a book that is simple to understand if you are willing to learn. It also means lots of words for feces. Cholera is spread through the human excrement so there is a lot of talk about it. This book isn’t a book for the faint of heart as it describes the deplorable public sanitation of 19th century London. The book does an amazing job with world building. Readers are given the chance to truly understand the world that these people were living in. Steven Johnson uses the accounts of many people who lived in this era to describe the lifestyle and environment of 1850s London. The world building is not only well done, but enviable. Sadly, a lot of this world building is done with lots of repetition. The book’s setting is also unfortunately disgusting and is a clearly a place no one wants to visit first-hand. Unfortunately, there isn’t a focus on characters. Steven Johnson takes a rather detached tone when writing about his characters. It we learn a lot about what they did, but little about what they were like. I give this 256 page book 4 stars.
Throughout the entirety of the book, Steven Johnson fights for his opinion that the cholera epidemic changed cities for the better. He argues that it destroyed the time’s prevailing theory about the spread of disease and replaced it with a more accurate one. He claims that this disease changed city planning, improved sanitation, and revolutionized public health. Facts and historical documents are both used to prove his case. Ultimately, this book presents a hopeful outlook on urbanization and the development of cities.
This book was a surprisingly interesting read. My obvious lack of reviews on nonfiction novels shows my lack of love for the genre. In fact, I wouldn’t have read this book without some level of provocation (a summer reading list). Despite this, I was pleasantly surprised. The book was about the spread of cholera and public sanitation. This means two things. The first is that the book spent a lot of time going into both the science and history of things like microbiology and human lifestyles. It educates you on the basics of high school microbiology, making a book that is simple to understand if you are willing to learn. It also means lots of words for feces. Cholera is spread through the human excrement so there is a lot of talk about it. This book isn’t a book for the faint of heart as it describes the deplorable public sanitation of 19th century London. The book does an amazing job with world building. Readers are given the chance to truly understand the world that these people were living in. Steven Johnson uses the accounts of many people who lived in this era to describe the lifestyle and environment of 1850s London. The world building is not only well done, but enviable. Sadly, a lot of this world building is done with lots of repetition. The book’s setting is also unfortunately disgusting and is a clearly a place no one wants to visit first-hand. Unfortunately, there isn’t a focus on characters. Steven Johnson takes a rather detached tone when writing about his characters. It we learn a lot about what they did, but little about what they were like. I give this 256 page book 4 stars.