Epidemics have caused terror across the world throughout history. This book describes how South Africa has faced the challenges of 12 infectious diseases over the centuries, covering Leprosy, Syphilis, Smallpox, Plague, Typhoid, Typhus, Influenza, Cholera, Malaria, Measles, Polio and Diphtheria between the 17th and 20th centuries. Most of these diseases were brought by visitors, colonialists and migrants from outside South Africa, to an indigenous African population that was, by all accounts, previously remarkably healthy. The diseases then spread across the country, aided by the movements of...