Why read The Cholera Years?

Book cover of The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849 and 1866

Book description

Cholera was the classic epidemic disease of the nineteenth century, as the plague had been for the fourteenth. Its defeat was a reflection not only of progress in medical knowledge but of enduring changes in American social thought. Rosenberg has focused his study on New York City, the most highly…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Cholera Years as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Andrew M. Wehrman

Author

Charles E. Rosenberg published his book, The Cholera Years, in 1962, and it has remained the classic book on the history of medicine in the 19th century United States. Rosenberg has had a singular impact on the field and has written on many public health topics, but his first book remains my favorite. Cleverly integrating the histories of social change, religion, and the contentious politics of New York City into a richly detailed chronicle of three separate epidemics of cholera, Rosenberg provides a gripping account of how Americans’ responses to public health crises have changed over time.

From Andrew's list on The best books to understand health and politics in the early United States.