The Deadly Truth: A History of Disease in America - Softcover

Grob, Gerald N.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674017579 ISBN 13: 9780674017573

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2005

Synopsis

The Deadly Truth chronicles the complex interactions between disease and the peoples of America from the pre-Columbian world to the present.

Grob's ultimate lesson is stark but valuable: there can be no final victory over disease. The world in which we live undergoes constant change, which in turn creates novel risks to human health and life. We conquer particular diseases, but others always arise in their stead. In a powerful challenge to our tendency to see disease as unnatural and its virtual elimination as a real possibility, Grob asserts the undeniable biological persistence of disease.

Diseases ranging from malaria to cancer have shaped the social landscape--sometimes through brief, furious outbreaks, and at other times through gradual occurrence, control, and recurrence. Grob integrates statistical data with particular peoples and places while giving us the larger patterns of the ebb and flow of disease over centuries. Throughout, we see how much of our history, culture, and nation-building was determined--in ways we often don't realize--by the environment and the diseases it fostered.

The way in which we live has shaped, and will continue to shape, the diseases from which we get sick and die. By accepting the presence of disease and understanding the way in which it has physically interacted with people and places in past eras, Grob illuminates the extraordinarily complex forces that shape our morbidity and mortality patterns and provides a realistic appreciation of the individual, social, environmental, and biological determinants of human health.

About this title

About the Author:

Gerald N. Grob is Henry E. Sigerist Professor of the History of Medicine, Emeritus, at Rutgers University.

Review:

The Deadly Truth is an intellectually exciting and morally sobering account of the role of disease in the history of the Americas. It reminds us of what health care has contributed to better and healthier lives for Americans, but cautions us against the futility of dreams of a disease-free world. (Leon Eisenberg, Harvard Medical School)

One of the most distinguished American historians of medicine, Grob gives us an overview of disease from pre-colonial times to the present that is fresh, authoritative and accessibly written. Going against half a century of hype about "medical progress," he concludes that we really don't understand why we're living longer, and that great future breakthroughs in dealing with chronic disease are likely to prove elusive. (Edward Shorter, author of A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac)

Ambitious and impressive. Grob has drawn upon work from a half-dozen disciplines to shape what might be called a biocultural history of disease in North America; there is no other book quite like it. (Charles E. Rosenberg, Harvard University)

A trenchant, thorough and wide-ranging analysis of what we know--and what we still don't know--about the burdens of disease. This book is a good read: provocative, forceful, and consistently interesting. (Rosemary A. Stevens, author of American Medicine and the Public Interest)

Coming at a moment when society seems intoxicated by the power of new genetic discoveries, Grob has provided a necessary historical perspective that may aid us in developing a more measured set of expectations and more reasonable social policies. (David Rosner, co-author of Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution)

The Deadly Truth is a fascinating narrative history of diseases that have afflicted Americans for four centuries. Every reader, regardless of background, will discover many new data and insights about diseases and humans. This book will be an authoritative point of departure for a host of thoughtful scientists and scholars. (John C. Burnham, Ohio State University)

An erudite, thoroughly researched account of how infectious diseases and chronic illnesses have evolved in America, from pre-Columbian times to the present...A wealth of information for students of American history and the history of medicine. (Kirkus Review 2002-06-15)

Is it possible to eradicate disease? Grob addresses this question while offering a history of disease in America to illustrate the ongoing relationships among society, environment, and human health. Beginning with evidence from prehistoric skeletal remains and continuing to the present day, Grob demonstrates that disease is a natural part of our existence...Grob provides interesting evidence showing that many diseases were on a decline even before the widespread use of antibiotics. (Tina Neville Library Journal 2002-08-01)

Grob adds valuably to a field that has suffered from unsupported opinions and loose reasoning...His later, careful comparisons of changing relations between rural and urban health conditions constitute an especially successful aspect of the book. His accounts of the health effects of industrialization and westward expansion are clear, and his questioning of accepted wisdom is welcome. (William Beatty Booklist 2002-08-01)

Grob's book is a broad study of American medical history and encompasses more than the story of clinicians, surgeons, patients and pathogens. He surveys subjects such as morbidity and mortality related to malnourishment, accident rates, pollution, vague but burdensome disabilities, and more...Grob is critical of the standard interpretations of American medical history...Grob has provided us with a general medical history of the United States of America, with suitable references to trends overseas, especially in Europe. His book will be the standard work on the subject until a decade or two more, when we non-specialists will need our next fresh interpretation of our fascinating medical selves. (Alfred W. Crosby Nature Medicine 2003-01-01)

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0674017579
• ISBN 13: 9780674017573
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368