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A killer disease... an all-powerful Empress... an extraordinary encounter... the astonishing true story.
No disease sparked as much dread in the eighteenth-century as smallpox. It killed children all across Europe with ruthless efficiency, and those lucky enough to survive, were disfigured with the telltale pitted scars. But, a method offered hope in preventing serious infection: inoculation, the practice of inserting smallpox pustules into an open wound. Those inoculated were protected from death.
Only one problem remained: convincing people to take the treatment. A pamphleteering war raged in Europe about the risks and benefits of inoculation, and public resistance ran high. Catherine the Great broke the deadlock by requesting that a young Essex doctor, Thomas Dimsdale, inoculate her. Lucy Ward expertly unveils how this extraordinary situation came about — and how it kickstarted a trend of inoculations all over Europe.
This is a fascinating history of Enlightenment ideals, political intrigue, and the human quest to cure disease.
No disease sparked as much dread in the eighteenth-century as smallpox. It killed children all across Europe with ruthless efficiency, and those lucky enough to survive, were disfigured with the telltale pitted scars. But, a method offered hope in preventing serious infection: inoculation, the practice of inserting smallpox pustules into an open wound. Those inoculated were protected from death.
Only one problem remained: convincing people to take the treatment. A pamphleteering war raged in Europe about the risks and benefits of inoculation, and public resistance ran high. Catherine the Great broke the deadlock by requesting that a young Essex doctor, Thomas Dimsdale, inoculate her. Lucy Ward expertly unveils how this extraordinary situation came about — and how it kickstarted a trend of inoculations all over Europe.
This is a fascinating history of Enlightenment ideals, political intrigue, and the human quest to cure disease.