Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

I wish I could have given this book more stars. I expected more. The diseases written about are well known, was hoping to learn more about diseases, etc. The writing was choppy and some of the chapters seemed to end quickly. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Recieving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

A fantastically written book about a fascinating subject. The writing is pitched perfectly for both introductory academia and someone with just a keen interest. A poignantly timed book which was, clearly, ahead of its time!

I love these variations on the traditional atlas, and learning more about different diseases and their place in our history is something that greatly interests me,

This is such a fantastic book!! I went out and bought a copy for myself so that I could adequately annotate and tab it up.
I am an avid reader when it comes to diseases and deadly epidemics. Even so, I learned so much from this book. Highly researched and structured where it wasn't a slog to read straight-up "science" information. Each section is broken down for the reader, listing the background attributes, as well as how it spreads.
I would recommend this book to everyone interested in science-or just to anyone, especially what is currently happening with this pandemic.

Thank you to NetGalley, White Lion Publishing, and Sandra Hempel for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

A fascinating historical and geographical look at disease which would appeal to a scholar and layperson alike. I have no scientific knowledge but found is a great (if sometimes frightening) read.

Being a physician albiet a Radiologist, I decided to check this book out called " The Atlas of Disease" and to be honest it brought back all those memories of medical school Microbiology lectures. I have to admit I barely remember a fraction of what I knew about the subject matter from back in med school.but this book provided a quick refresher. Obviously this time I enjoyed reading the book rather than trying to cramp for some exam.

The pathogens are categorized depending on their origin with brief historic significance regarding their origin, geographical distribution, signs, symptoms and just fun tit-bits about the entity.

If you are a student of infectious diseases getting a PhD or a medical resident/fellow or a medical student this book will make a good addition to your book shelf.

I have always been the sort of person who keeps nuggets of random information with me to use as conversation fillers and maybe for people to think I am wacky enough to start an interesting conversation with. I know disease is not necessarily an appropriate conversation starter, but this book covers the most fascinating of details.This is not a book for the faint of heart. It has historical references, social contexts, the timeline of diseases and how it ran rampant across the globe. There are even pictures of old pamphlets that were circulated during some particular phases as well as pictures of the people suffering. It has a lot of information which is heavy,that it is the kind of book that you keep on a shelf and take it down at any time there is a lull in your life in order to enhance your understanding of how far human society has come in the modern world(and not preferably read at a go). This is, in no uncertain terms an encyclopedia with all that you can ever want to know about diseases. I am usually queasy about details which are not 'happy' but this is very educative and dealt in that manner making it worth the time spent in reading it.
I bought a copy of the book because I was unable to complete the Advance review copy within the allotted time and the little I had read fascinated me enough to break out of my habit of not randomly purchasing books

The Atlas of Disease is a non-fiction historically and scientifically accurate book on epidemiology. Released 27th Nov 2018, by Quarto on their White Lion imprint, it's 224 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

Author Sandra Hempel is a journalist with long experience writing about medical and social issues. The book is aimed at the layperson and whilst the book is scientifically accurate, it's doesn't require a lot of background knowledge of disease or epidemiology to understand.

The chapters are arranged around methods of transfer: airborne diseases, waterborne, zoonose (animal/insect to human), and human to human. Each of the individual disease entries includes map and graphical data along with historical background and info. The most devastating epidemics and pandemics in history are covered individually.

I found the book very educational but not dry or boring at all. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who enjoys medical nonfiction. It's well researched, well written, and accessible to a wide audience.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank netgally, the author for an Advanced Copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book. It's well worth reading

*I have received this book from NetGalley, but didn't finish in time, so I purchased it on Amazon*
I'm a fan of various medical stories, the more real they are, the better. Non-fiction accounts of doctors or researchers are the best, but books about diseases are also amazing. This book is great in telling the stories of the various contagious diseases and how they spread, where do they come from and so on. Additional maps help visualize everything. Illustrations of awareness posters and art about given diseases were very interesting, too.
I've learned a few things from this book and I think it's a great book to come back to from time to time, just for a short reminder of basic facts.

Hempel's Atlas of Disease looks at our history with contagion, focusing on some of the worst illnesses humanity has faced thus far. There are four sections, divided by transmission type- airborne, waterborne, insects/animals, and human to human. At once terrifying and fascinating, this book will introduce the reader to some of the deadliest diseases, from typhoid, to bubonic plague, to ebola. Maps accompany, charting pandemics and epidemics the likes of which have shaped our history. We see how diseases and treatments have varied through history, and changed over time, as more evidence comes to light. Great for those interested in epidemiology, and disease through history.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

How very cheerful. If you know anyone who is a perpetual moaner or who loves gloomy books, maybe you could gift them a copy. Airborne diseases followed by water borne, then those transmitted by animals or insects and humans, make up the contents. A few pages on each illness - influenza, cholera, polio, HIV - are followed by a colour-coded map of the world showing where or when each illness occurred. Then there is often another map for the most recent outbreak, or the state of play in 2016. Efforts to combat each disease are discussed, from quarantining to vaccination. Of course we see the famous map of cholera spread in London. From this we expand to see the progress of diseases around the world, with medieval or modern travel. Don't forget the illustrations of the day of what a patient looked like.

To be clear, we don't get rabies and the common cold; just pandemics and killer epidemics. The Spanish Influenza, plague, leprosy, typhoid. Zika, Ebola. I'm getting the shivers just reading about them. Those starting to study medicine, or with an interest in geopolitical history, will find this book fascinating. Personally I'm glad I live in this century, and not in a country which still has polio or TB. This is a well produced book with useful information.

I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

The Atlas of Disease is, quite literally, what it says on the tin: maps of pathways which various diseases have taken (as well as some "this-is-where-this-still-exists") as well as the Sparknotes-version (except with a lot more information and a lot more detailed than the average Sparknotes) of these diseases and how they behave, both before and after infection. As a visual learner, these maps were super helpful - but I wouldn't have minded if the maps themselves had been slightly more informative.

This book details an important aspect of public health that maps have been leveraged as a particularly helpful tool in combatting epidemics. As a graduate student of a field related to Biology, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Each year, it seems, a new and deadly disease arises or an old epidemic breaks out - recently, eg, the return of diseases that we thought were history thanks to vaccines, diseases like Measles and Chicken Pox and recurring diseases that have no simple solution like Ebola. But diseases have played a profound role in the course of history from possible small pox epidemics in ancient times to the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 that killed more people than combat during WWI to the recent Ebola outbreaks or the cholera epidemic that has, just in the last few months, killed thousands in Yemen. In The Atlas of Disease: Mapping deadly epidemics and contagion from the plague to the zika virus, author Sandra Hempel not only gives a fascinating overview of many of the worst epidemics we have faced right up to the present but provides maps showing the countries affected by them, how the disease developed and spread and the pathways they took as they spread. She explains how cartographic techniques have been used to combat disease (eg. how John Snow identified the source of the 1854 cholera epidemic in London) and how this has helped to contain the spread of deadly pathogens.

For anyone interested in how epidemics and pandemics have changed our history and how mapping their spread, albeit just one weapon in the arsenal against them, has helped in the past and continues to help in containing them, The Atlas of Disease is a fascinating read and I recommend it highly.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and White Lion Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

As a researcher in the bioengineering field, I found this to be a great read! The illustrations were great. Sometimes reading about science can be dense and uninteresting but that wasn't the case with this book! I feel it's also very friendly to people who aren't well-versed in biosciences.

The Atlas of Disease in an interesting look into major diseases and epidemics that have plagued the world, both ancient and modern. Diseases that thankfully we have eradicated or are mostly confined to third world countries that are not well vaccinated such as diphtheria, leprosy, scarlet fever, smallpox, tuberculosis, cholera, dysentery, typhus, yellow fever, and polio. Many modern diseases were covered as well, such as Zika, Ebola, AIDS, influenza, and SARS. There are also those that are still seen occasionally such as malaria and even plague! All are organized into sections depending on how they spread.

Though well organized and sectioned, I expected The Atlas of Disease to be more map heavy. Instead, it gave microscopic views of the disease, as well as artwork portraying the disease. While this was interesting, it lent more of a textbook feel to the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for granting my wish to access this ARC! For anyone who is interested in the history of disease, this book is a dream come true. The author delves into each disease with a thoughtful manner and straightforward way, using maps of the world to show the spread of each illness. These maps add a new dimension of understanding to the text, and underscore how devastating the spread of disease can be. The trail of germs is traced across the continents for each disease, adding a quiet horror to the author's words.  This alone makes the book worth buying - no other book I've read with this subject has illustrations quite like this. Interspersed in the chapters are other bits of artwork, either paintings of people suffering or government posters warning townfolk of the ravages of the flu, yellow fever, measles, and the like. THE ATLAS OF DISEASE stands out head and shoulders among other novels in this genre.

There are 4 sections to the book: airborne, waterborne, insects and animals, and human to human. Each chapter in the section then outlines a disease, from AIDS to Zika. The opening page has the disease name, the causal agent, transmission, symptoms, incidence and deaths, prevalence, prevention, treatment, and global strategy. For example, diptheria’s incidence and deaths statement lets us know that the germ causes around 5,000 cases per year worldwide, with 5-10% cases being fatal. The global strategy notes that there are childhood vaccination programs, but the World Health Organization (WHO) describes it as a “forgotten” disease. On the opposite page there is a painting by Francisco de Goya showing a man holding a child on his lap, supporting his head with his left hand while he probes the child’s mouth with his right. The work is entitled El Lazarillo de Tormes or El Garrotillo (“Diptheria”). When you turn the page you see illustrations of how the illness attacks the lining of the throat, causing the victim to strangle and suffocate.

I can honestly say I have learned more from this book than from many others I’ve read. The writer’s style is straightforward, sharing facts without drama, and extremely easy to comprehend. You won’t need a medical background to appreciate ATLAS. The author’s fascination with these illnesses is clearly portrayed on every page, as well as her depth of research. I cannot say enough superlatives about this book - it is far and away the best work I've read this year.  If you are a devotee of disease, you will treasure this work forever.  And for those of you who are not - please still read this. You will learn, you will be shocked, and you will appreciate the fragility of life.

A fabulous interesting read about disease and its spread across the globe. From historical times to present day the microbe has been one of mans greatest enemies. If you have an interest in history, Microbiology or even just an interest in how changes in lifestyle have changed the how infection is passed around the globe, then you will find this a fascinating read