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hzb333's review against another edition
3.0
I would give this one 2.5 stars if I could. The information about Victorian London was interesting the rest of it (basically a love song to modern cities) was not. Between the long, sometimes unnecessary quotes from original sources and the ode to modern cities, I felt like this author stretched to create something long enough to be a book. I think it would have been more interesting if there was more information on the people involved from that time period or even more information on the engineer who created London's modern sewage and fresh water lines.
danchibnall's review against another edition
5.0
Just a fabulous story all around. Great science communication, good narrative. Loved it.
archipeligo's review
4.0
I recommend the epilogue where Johnson describes a hypothetical global pandemic and the importance of public health and funding science to look out for and actively work to prevent diseases evolving to a point where they could kill off millions of people.
Best appreciated while living through an actual world-wide pandemic after a presidency that cuts funding to and openly ridicules science.
Best appreciated while living through an actual world-wide pandemic after a presidency that cuts funding to and openly ridicules science.
subbasegirl's review against another edition
2.0
The first couple chapters were good but this book needed a better/different editor (or an author who listened to his editor). The second half of the book felt like a collection of essays that never really gelled together.
kels_sej's review against another edition
2.0
Fascinating history of a terrible cholera outbreak. However, the author struggled to find focus on the narrative and needlessly repeated information multiple times over multiple topics. Next time, I’ll just consult the Wikipedia page.
momreaderh's review against another edition
4.0
If this is a subject that interests you, you will like this book. I will admit I didn't read the very end though, where it talked about modern-day implications. Mostly because I had a fee on it and had to return it.
kimmeyer's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like this could have been a longform article instead.