Reviews
Black Death at the Golden Gate: The Race to Save America from the Bubonic Plague by David K. Randall
raechsreads's review against another edition
3.0
After watching the show on PBS earlier this year, I wanted to read more. These historical events in our past that aren't known by everyone. It's interesting to learn how people knowingly swept the cases under the rug just so business could go on like usual.
napkins's review against another edition
5.0
AMERICANS AS A SOCIETY HAVE LEARNED NOTHING IN 100 YEARS
It was....uh...quite the time listening to this in 2022, with such lines as "He [the scientist trying to push an early vaccine and who has the most understanding of Y. pestis] could only watch as men with no scientific understanding shaped public opinion against him" and "He believed in a future where scientists had rendered the concept of infectious diseases moot, saving millions of innocent lives; instead he had to face a present where politics mattered more than honesty and ignorance more than medicine".
Though aside from having to pause more than a few times to just stare into space at how the social aspects just repeated (complete with racism, xenophobia, "but the economy", "plague is just a hoax, there's no real danger", and such), it really was fascinating. There were a number of timing and natural factors that kept it from being more widespread, but really we should all appreciate Rupert Blue a lot more and hate power play politics for stopping him so many times.
Also don't play with squirrels.
It was....uh...quite the time listening to this in 2022, with such lines as "He [the scientist trying to push an early vaccine and who has the most understanding of Y. pestis] could only watch as men with no scientific understanding shaped public opinion against him" and "He believed in a future where scientists had rendered the concept of infectious diseases moot, saving millions of innocent lives; instead he had to face a present where politics mattered more than honesty and ignorance more than medicine".
Though aside from having to pause more than a few times to just stare into space at how the social aspects just repeated (complete with racism, xenophobia, "but the economy", "plague is just a hoax, there's no real danger", and such), it really was fascinating. There were a number of timing and natural factors that kept it from being more widespread, but really we should all appreciate Rupert Blue a lot more and hate power play politics for stopping him so many times.
Also don't play with squirrels.
claire_mg4's review against another edition
5.0
A nonfiction book that reads like fiction...finished it in one day! I love history but can't stand microbiology - but this book won't bore anyone who does not like science!
altlovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Just a cheerful book about the plague to round out my holiday reading.
In the early 1900s, plague visited California. It creeped in, set up shop in Chinatown in San Francisco, and proceeded to puzzle scientists as it would pick victims seemingly at random. Compounding their efforts to isolate a cause, local politicians staunchly refused to assist the scientists and frighten the residents. San Francisco was growing, California as a whole was growing, and it wouldn't do to frighten people, close borders, and basically anything sensible to combat the disease. Everything's fine in Ba Sing Se. It went about as well as expected.
It was an interesting read about a situation I hadn't heard of before. If the politicians in charge then had had their way, things might have turned out much worse for San Francisco, California, and the United States as a whole. I liked that the book profiled the rotating cast of doctors-in-charge and the many ways their efforts to control the disease were brought up short by everyone around them. We're apparently really good at burying our heads in the sand for the sake of personal convenience and never really learned important lessons from the past. Who knew.
I did think the book meandered a bit more than was necessary, which caused my attention to wander a bit. There was an extensive section about the California gold rush which, while relevant to explain California's development, wasn't necessarily relevant to the plague story being told. I like my sidebars and rabbit holes as much as the next person, but it made the story as a whole feel less cohesive.
Still, a super engaging read and interesting story about how politics and medical science can never seem to see eye-to-eye on anything.
In the early 1900s, plague visited California. It creeped in, set up shop in Chinatown in San Francisco, and proceeded to puzzle scientists as it would pick victims seemingly at random. Compounding their efforts to isolate a cause, local politicians staunchly refused to assist the scientists and frighten the residents. San Francisco was growing, California as a whole was growing, and it wouldn't do to frighten people, close borders, and basically anything sensible to combat the disease. Everything's fine in Ba Sing Se. It went about as well as expected.
It was an interesting read about a situation I hadn't heard of before. If the politicians in charge then had had their way, things might have turned out much worse for San Francisco, California, and the United States as a whole. I liked that the book profiled the rotating cast of doctors-in-charge and the many ways their efforts to control the disease were brought up short by everyone around them. We're apparently really good at burying our heads in the sand for the sake of personal convenience and never really learned important lessons from the past. Who knew.
I did think the book meandered a bit more than was necessary, which caused my attention to wander a bit. There was an extensive section about the California gold rush which, while relevant to explain California's development, wasn't necessarily relevant to the plague story being told. I like my sidebars and rabbit holes as much as the next person, but it made the story as a whole feel less cohesive.
Still, a super engaging read and interesting story about how politics and medical science can never seem to see eye-to-eye on anything.
lindsayb09's review against another edition
5.0
A very readable and well written book about a period of US history I had never heard about. The author did a great job introducing the wide cast of characters and explaining the medical science in a clear and concise way. The book covers not only medical history, but the political history of California and the rampant racism against Chinese immigrants that helped to shape these events.
lisaeirene's review against another edition
1.0
Struggled to stay interested. It felt redundant and didn't move along quickly enough to hold my interest.
alenert's review
informative
medium-paced
Listened on audio - really enjoyed. Not a fun topic, but it was an engaging book. I can't imagine how 😳 I would've been when COVID hit had I read this when I first acquired it in 2019... the similarities in the reaction are startling. (Maybe not to someone versed in global health, but for me who was/is fairly oblivious.)
CW for disease, death, graphic descriptions of diseased bodies, racism, animal testing/death (mostly rats)
CW for disease, death, graphic descriptions of diseased bodies, racism, animal testing/death (mostly rats)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Xenophobia, Death, and Racism