Short Synopsis
In this account, a journalist traces the course of yellow fever, stopping in 1878 Memphis to "vividly [evoke] the Faulkner-meets-'Dawn of the Dead' horrors,"-and moving on to today's strain of the killer virus.

Full Synopsis
Over the course of history, yellow fever has paralyzed governments, halted commerce, quarantined cities, moved the U.S. capital, and altered the outcome of wars. During a single summer in Memphis alone, it cost more lives than the Chicago fire, the San Francisco earthquake, and the Johnstown flood combined.

In 1900, the U.S. sent three doctors to Cuba to discover how yellow fever was spread. There, they launched one of history's most controversial human studies. Compelling and terrifying, The American Plague depicts the story of yellow fever and its reign in this country-and in Africa, where even today it strikes thousands every year. With "arresting tales of heroism," it is a story as much about the nature of human beings as it is about the nature of disease.

"Gripping...highly readable."--- Newsweek

"Engrossing...Crosby, a journalist, profiles the outbreak as it rips through Memphis, the city hardest hit. A first-rate medical detective drama...It is good to be reminded of the occasional nobility of the human spirit."--- New York Times Book Review

"Through vivid prose and classic storytelling, Crosby seamlessly blends history and science to tell us how yellow fever haunted the nation--and why, if we're not extremely vigilant, it will haunt us again."--- Hampton Sides, author of Hellhound on His Trail and Ghost Soldiers