Table of Contents

The Ghost MapPreface

Monday, August 28
The Night-Soil Men

Saturday, September 2
Eyes Sunk, Lips Dark Blue

Sunday, September 3
The Investigator

Monday, September 4
That Is To Say, Jo Has Not Yet Died

Tuesday. September 5
All Smell Is Disease

Wednesday, September 6
Building The Case

Friday, September 8
The Pump Handle

Conclusion
The Ghost Map

Epilogue
Broad Street Revisited

Author's Note
Acknowledgments
Appendix: Notes on Further Reading
Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Steven Johnson is the bestselling author of eleven books, including Where Good Ideas Come From, Wonderland, and Extra Life. He's the host and co-creator of the Emmy-winning PBS/BBC series How We Got To Now, and the host of the podcast American Innovations. He lives in Brooklyn and Marin County, California with his wife and three sons.

Reviews

“Fascinating.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Thrilling.” —GQ

“Vivid.” —The New Yorker

“Thought-provoking.” —Entertainment Weekly

“By turns a medical thriller, detective story, and paean to city life, Johnson's account of the outbreak and its modern implications is a true page-turner.” —The Washington Post

“Marvelous... as was Dava Sobel's Longitude. Yet The Ghost Map is a far more ambitious and compelling work... Mr. Johnson is never less than lively and beguiling.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Steven Johnson tells the tale with verve, spicing his narrative with scenes of Dickensian squalor and the vibrant street life surrounding that squalor. But in Johnson's hands, The Ghost Map morphs into something more than mere history.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune

“Johnson adds a new and welcome element—old-fashioned storytelling flair... to his fractal, multifaceted method of unraveling the scientific mysteries of everyday life.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Steven Johnson gives us history at its best: colorful, connected and compelling. At the core is a medical mystery, or what today would be called an epidemiological detective story... A masterpiece of historical writing.” —The Seattle Times

“This is more than a great detective story. It's the triumph of reason and evidence over superstition and theory, and Johnson tells it in loving detail.” —Chicago Tribune

The idiosyncratic thinker and cultural historian Johnson leaps from trumpeting video games (in his previous book Everything Bad Is Good for You) to uncovering the history of murderous cholera infestations in London and the scientific research that revealed the microbial origins of the outbreaks. Sklar reads Johnson's engaging book with a deep, measured baritone that is the embodiment of solidly backed reasonability. Sklar makes each word sound as if it has been chipped into a block of marble, there to rest for all eternity. This is not always conducive to following the flow of Johnson's narrative, but Sklar does well with his voice what Johnson seeks to do with his book: insert a slip into the history book, adding the mundane deaths of working souls and the audacious efforts of scientists into the story of the European march of progress. Simultaneous release with the Riverhead hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 21). (Jan.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

"Fascinating." -The New York Times Book Review

"Thrilling." -GQ

"Vivid." -The New Yorker

"Thought-provoking." -Entertainment Weekly

"By turns a medical thriller, detective story, and paean to city life, Johnson's account of the outbreak and its modern implications is a true page-turner." -The Washington Post

"Marvelous... as was Dava Sobel's Longitude. Yet The Ghost Map is a far more ambitious and compelling work... Mr. Johnson is never less than lively and beguiling." -The Wall Street Journal

"Steven Johnson tells the tale with verve, spicing his narrative with scenes of Dickensian squalor and the vibrant street life surrounding that squalor. But in Johnson's hands, The Ghost Map morphs into something more than mere history." -The San Diego Union-Tribune

"Johnson adds a new and welcome element-old-fashioned storytelling flair... to his fractal, multifaceted method of unraveling the scientific mysteries of everyday life." -Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Steven Johnson gives us history at its best: colorful, connected and compelling. At the core is a medical mystery, or what today would be called an epidemiological detective story... A masterpiece of historical writing." -The Seattle Times

"This is more than a great detective story. It's the triumph of reason and evidence over superstition and theory, and Johnson tells it in loving detail." -Chicago Tribune