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As the subtitle 'The story of London’s most terrifying epidemic and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world' implies, THE GHOST MAP is an ambitious story of forensic epidemiology. Steven Johnson uses the 1854 cholera outbreak as an illustration of the clash between medical tradition and modern science in this thorough and interesting, if faintly flawed, book. Urban legend has it that a wise doctor removed the pump handle from a tainted water source and thereby saved the lives of the ignorant poor. The reality is far more complex and exciting, and Johnson tells it as much as possible in chronological order, allowing the reader to follow, CSI-style, along in the unfolding investigation. The setting is a failing, polluted city: “London in 1854 was a Victorian metropolis trying to make do with an Elizabethan public infrastructure.” The protagonists are the brilliant Doctor John Snow, who is methodically trying to prove that cholera comes from drinking infected water, and the Reverend Henry Whitehead who, in ministering to his dying flock, manages to isolate Patient Zero. The antagonists are city planning commissioners who prefer the miasmatic theory of sickness, vibrio cholerae, and the Broad Street pump water, which had an ironic reputation as being the purest water in the city. Johnson constantly shifts from scene-setting to personal stories to the history of his protagonists and the disease. While it is a thorough approach, the flexing point of view means that the book occasionally gets vague or trips over its own chronology. For instance, Johnson mentions that Whitehead drank from the fateful pump as a cliffhanging chapter ending, but only obliquely brings up the result several chapters later. The 'ghost map' – an actual map that showed the deaths in relationship to the water pumps – serves as title and chapter illustrations, but isn’t explained until the conclusion. And the book falls flat on its face with a clunky, moralistic epilogue about modern epidemics. But when Johnson is focusing, THE GHOST MAP is fascinating. He brings vibrant detail to outlining the status of London and the historical progress of cholera. His descriptions of Snow and Whitehead give the reader a real sense of their personalities as well as their actions. He makes non-fiction seem like a thriller without resorting to breathless prose or cheap emotionalism. Forensic fans, medical fans, and history buffs will find a lot to enjoy in this book.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, November 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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