Epidemic Invasions: Yellow Fever and the Limits of Cuban Independence, 1878–1930

"It’s another great little book. One students love when I use it in class and students are always a good barometer for whether a book is palatable. It’s about how yellow fever affected the United States in the mid-to-late nineteenth century and the origins of the outbreaks, which was traced back to Cuba. It brings up lots of interesting questions about what a powerful country can dictate to a less powerful country needs to do to control disease. The other books I selected brought up different elements of epidemics. This one is almost a diplomatic history through the lens of disease. Epidemic invasions shows how pandemics affect trade and diplomatic relations between nations. There are similarities to the relationship between England and India in the nineteenth century vis-à-vis cholera. They have best practices, which are based on prior public health history, but it seems that similar mistakes are still being made. Sorry to sound so cynical, but the lessons of the past don’t seem to be foremost in the minds of those who are handling this pandemic."