- Hardcover: 264 pages
- Publisher: Thomas Allen Publishers; 1 edition (Oct 4 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0887621309
- ISBN-13: 978-0887621307
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.7 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 431 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,295,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"...for those who like true-life medical history adventure tales, it's quite a yarn...Bown tells his tale well.” -- National Post, October 11, 2003
"It’s not only the faux symptoms of scurvy that Stephen Bown’s book stirs in its readers, it also raises intriguing geo-political possibilities." -- PressRepublican.com, October 17, 2003
"Stephen Bown has written the definitive history of scurvy...the narrative moves along with the insistent page-turning absorption of a good novel." -- Derek Lundy, author of Godforsaken Sea
"It’s not only the faux symptoms of scurvy that Stephen Bown’s book stirs in its readers, it also raises intriguing geo-political possibilities." -- PressRepublican.com, October 17, 2003
"Stephen Bown has written the definitive history of scurvy...the narrative moves along with the insistent page-turning absorption of a good novel." -- Derek Lundy, author of Godforsaken Sea
Book Description
Scurvy is a medical detective story for the ages, a fascinating and often maddening examination of how James Lind (the surgeon), James Cook (the mariner), and Gilbert Blane (the gentleman) worked separately to eliminate the "scourge of the seas," the curse of all 18th-century seafaring nations. The willful ignorance of the royal medical elite, who endorsed ludicrous medical theories based on speculative research while ignoring the lifesaving properties of citrus fruit, cost tens of thousands of lives. Scurvy took a terrible toll in the Age of Sail, killing more sailors than were lost in all sea battles combined. The threat of the disease kept ships close to home and doomed those vessels that ventured too far from port. The cure for scurvy ranks among the greatest human accomplishments, yet its impact on history has been largely ignored. Stephen Bown takes us back to the earliest recorded appearance of the disease in the 16th century, to the 18th century, when the scourge ravaged all ships at sea, to the early 19th century, when the British conquered scurvy and successfully blockaded the French and expanded their empire. Evocative and enthralling, "Scurvy" is a rare mix of compelling history and classic adventure story.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Napoleon, Limes, Lemons and Limeys,
By Heather Moser (Ottawa, Ontario) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail (Hardcover)
This is a fascinating, often amusing book on a very interesting subject. It reads with all the gripping suspense of a well-written novel, while being meticulously researched to be historically accurate. Mr. Bown writes with his trademark contagious enthusiasm for his subject while answering all the questions you and I could possibly think to ask about scurvy. I had no idea, before reading this book, how horrifying the disease could be. The machinations of governments and navies are appalling, as is their total disregard for the plight of their apparently disposable mariners. Nor would I have guessed that the lowly lemon played a major role in defeating Napoleon! You have to wonder why history textbooks are so unnecessarily stultifying, when writers of Mr. Bown's caliber do such a wonderful job of making us gobble up their words as easily as citrus-flavoured Vitamin C tablets!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Napoleon, Limes, Lemons and Limeys,
By Heather Moser - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail (Hardcover)
This is a fascinating, often amusing book on a very interesting subject. It reads with all the gripping suspense of a well-written novel, while being meticulously researched to be historically accurate. Mr. Bown writes with his trademark contagious enthusiasm for his subject while answering all the questions you and I could possibly think to ask about scurvy. I had no idea, before reading this book, how horrifying the disease could be. The machinations of governments and navies are appalling, as is their total disregard for the plight of their apparently disposable mariners. Nor would I have guessed that the lowly lemon played a major role in defeating Napoleon! You have to wonder why history textbooks are so unnecessarily stultifying, when writers of Mr. Bown's caliber do such a wonderful job of making us gobble up their words as easily as citrus-flavoured Vitamin C tablets!
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