Disease and Empire: The Health of European Troops in the Conquest of Africa

ISBN-13: 9780521591690 / Angielski / Twarda / 1998 / 290 str.

Philip D. Curtin (The Johns Hopkins University)

Opis

From 1815 to 1914, death rates of European soldiers, serving both at home and abroad, dropped by nearly ninety percent. But this drop applied mainly to soldiers in barracks. Soldiers on campaign, especially in the tropics, continued to die from disease at rates as high as ever. This book examines the practice of military medicine during the conquest of Africa, especially in the 1880s and 1890s. Curtin examines what was done, what was not done, and the impact of doctors' successes and failures on the willingness of Europeans to embark on imperial adventures.

Recenzje

"The author's uncommon skills for nuanced narrative, statistical analysis, and for explaining the causes of major historical events have been employed effectively to produce an outstanding study." Toyin Falola, The Historian

Spis treści

Preface; 1. The West African disease background; 2. The march to Magdala; 3. The march to Kumasi; 4. Conquest in the West African tropics, 1879–1900; 5. Typhoid fever and the garrison of Egypt, 1882–1914; 6. The typhoid campaigns: Northeastern Africa in the 1880s; 7. The last campaigns in Eastern Africa: Madagascar and Omdurman, 1895–8; 8. The Anglo-Boer War; 9. Retrospect.