Plague-Busters!: Medicine's Battles with History's Deadliest Diseases

(Paperback)

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Description

From New York Times bestselling author Lindsey Fitzharris, a riveting middle grade nonfiction book about diseases that have shaped the course of human history.

* Chock-full of awesomely appalling medical history. Shelf Awareness, starred review
* Engaging, informative, but also gross. School Library Journal, starred review

School Library Journal Best Book of 2023
Cybils 2023 Nonfiction Middle Grade Finalist
2024 Best STEM Books Award from National Science Teaching Association
2024 Grateful American Book Prize Honorable Mention

Smallpox! Rabies! Black Death! Throughout history humankind has been plagued by . . . well, by plagues. The symptoms of these diseases were gruesomebut the remedies were even worse.

Get to know the ickiest illnesses that have infected humans and affected civilizations through the ages. Each chapter explores the story of a disease, including the scary symptoms, kooky cures, and brilliant breakthroughs that it spawned. Medical historian and bestselling author Lindsey Fitzharris lays out the facts with her trademark wit, and Adrian Teal adds humor with cartoons and caricatures drawn in pitch black and blood red. Diseases covered in this book include bubonic plague, smallpox, rabies, tuberculosis, cholera, and scurvy.

Thanks to centuries of sickness and a host of historys most determined plague-busters, this riveting book features everything you've ever wanted to know about the world's deadliest diseases.

Reviews

* Plague-Busters! is chock full of awesomely appalling medical history that is sure to delight audiences, and possibly even spark interest for some future pathologists. * Shelf Awareness, starred review *
* Engaging, informative, but also gross. * SLJ Reviews, starred review *
Fans of Albee's Poison will feel right at home with this darkly comedic piece of nonfiction. * The Horn Book *
An entertaining, accessible, and satisfyingly disgusting history of six diseases . . . an equally worthy choice for researchers and browsing pathologists. * Booklist *
A lively illustration of the perils of illness in the olden days. * Kirkus Reviews *
* An excellent biography of a genuine miracle worker. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review), on THE FACEMAKER *
* Meticulously researched and compulsively readable. * Publishers Weekly (starred review), on THE FACEMAKER *
This book is riveting. It is gruesome but it is also uplifting . . . What a triumph. * Mary Roach, author of FUZZ and STIFF, on THE FACEMAKER *
Atmospheric . . . The story it tells is one of abiding fascination. * Jennifer Senior, The New York Times, on THE BUTCHERING ART *

Author Bio

Lindsey Fitzharris is the bestselling author of The Butchering Art and The Facemaker. Dr. Fitzharris, who holds a Ph.D. in the History of Science and Medicine from Oxford University, regularly writes for the Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, the Guardian, the Lancet, and other major publications. She is also the writer and host of the Smithsonian Channel TV series The Curious Life and Death of.
drlindseyfitzharris.com

Adrian Teal is a caricaturist, cartoonist, fine artist, and illustrator with clients around the world. His work has appeared in numerous TV shows including Spitting Image and Big Heads. He has produced art for publications such as the Sunday Telegraph, the Times, the Guardian, Time Out, and the Daily Mail.
adrianteal.com