'The Sweating Sickness Epidemic,' written by Dr Stephen Porter, is a gripping and informative historical nonfiction book that delves into the deadly disease that swept across England in the Tudor period. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the disease, its symptoms, and its impact on society, as well as the efforts made to contain and treat it with the knowledge avaliable at the time.

Dr Porter's writing style is engaging and accessible, making it easy for readers to follow the complex history of the Sweating Sickness. He effectively combines scientific research with historical accounts, providing a comprehensive understanding of the disease and the events that surrounded it. He also brings to light the various theories and controversies that have arisen over the years in attempts to understand the disease.

The author does an excellent job of putting the epidemic into context by providing a detailed description of the social and political climate of the time. He shows how the Sweating Sickness was not just a medical issue, but a social and economic one as well. The book highlights the devastating impact of the disease on the English population, both in terms of human lives and the broader societal effects.

Overall, The Sweating Sickness Epidemic is an engaging and informative read that provides a fascinating look into a little-known chapter of history. Dr Porter's thorough research and engaging writing style make it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of disease and its impact on society. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the lessser known areas of medical history.

This is a fascinating new look at the sweating sickness that influenced Henry VIII’s already-known hypochondria. It gives a new context to that period. It’s clear that Stephen Porter has a passion for it and the level of research just leaps off the page. I can see the reflection of the COVID pandemic too. We don’t think to write the everyday down, but it will be used in the future. At the time, they probably didn’t think the sweating sickness would be key for future historians, much like we are experiencing now. It puts everything into perspective. I will say it’s a bit long though. I feel it’s a bit of a niche subject that has been stretched out to fill a whole book and therefore you get quite a bit of repetition. I think it would have benefitted from being shorter. I am hoping to write a book about Henry VIII and this was a great help for research purposes.

The Sweating Sickness Epidemic is a book about the sweat, written by Dr. Stephen Porter and published, alas, posthumously. It focuses on the mysterious illness that plagued England--almost solely England--arriving in short bursts and sweeping through both rural and city areas, killing people so quickly that there was never really any time to prepare or guard against it. I find the topic fascinating because we don't know where it started, we don't know why it came into formation, we don't know exactly what it was, and we don't know why (excluding one incident on the continent) it kept essentially just to England.

The book is clearly comprised of exhaustive research, and I enjoyed the data compiled of the various death tolls from the cities and towns as well as the first-hand accounts of those who either watched the sweat roll through their area or combatted it themselves. With the current climate as it is in dealing with the rise of multiple pandemics, reading this book now certainly hits harder than I imagine it would if the book had been published in, say, 2015. I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of the number of deaths against the victims of the plague as well as the rapidity with which it claimed lives.

Really, just a fascinating book on such a mysterious topic.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sweating Sickness only gets limited mention in history of medicine books, so this book provided mostly fascinating content. The book is almost all history with little science, a necessity because so little is actually known about the sweating sickness medically. But sometimes there was just too much detail and I found the writing uninspiring. Even when I read nonfiction, I like to feel that I got to know a little bit about the writer but this didn’t happen in this book. The too-many quotes were disruptive to reading. However the unique content makes this book well worth reading. Thank you to Netgalley and Pen & Sword History for the digital review copy.