An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 Written by Jim Murphy Illustrated by primary documents, photographs, and drawings Clarion, 2003, 165 pp., ISBN 0-395 77608-2.

Honored by several awards as an outstanding example of nonfiction, this story of the 1793 spread of yellow fever in Philadelphia fascinates readers with ghoulish descriptions of dead animals in street sewers, daily lists of the dead, stench of rotting cargo and stagnant waters, and hordes of mosquitoes prolific among a rich array of breeding grounds. In Philadelphia, the temporary capital of a fledgling country, a nation of people went about their daily lives, oblivious to creeping disease and death. Within this context, Murphy describes governmental growing pains, the failure of the social class system, and early...