First published 2006
Dr. John Snow walks through the fetid streets of Soho in 1854, watching neighbors collapse and die from cholera. The medical establishment blames bad air, but Snow suspects something else. He maps each death, tracing patterns that others cannot see. A local clergyman, Henry Whitehead, joins his investigation despite initial skepticism. Together they uncover connections between the victims that challenge everything London believes about disease. Snow races against time and official resistance to prove his theory before more lives are lost. The investigation becomes a battle between old certainties and dangerous new ideas. At its heart, this is a story about the courage required to see the world differently when lives hang in the balance.
Genres: history, medical, 20th-century, mystery, non-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, race-against-time
Setting: Soho, London
Period: 1854
1000 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Hardcover