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The Medical Detective: John Snow, Cholera and the Mystery of the Broad Street Pump by: Sandra Hempel

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Publisher: Granta Books
Release date: 6th August, 2007
Media: Paperback

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Rating: - John Snow - Medical Hero.

We all take our fresh water supply for granted nowadays, but if we had lived a hundred and fifty years ago we would have had the pleasure of our water being pumped directly from a sewage ridden river or from a well that was susceptible to contamination. This is a fabulous book about Dr.John Snow and how he discovered that the outbreaks of cholera were due to drinking polluted water and not through breathing in foul air, which was the general consensus of the "experts" of the day". He really was a medical detective and comes across as a truly inspirational human being, not out for any financial gain, but a man of inherent kindness and dignity. His unutterable vocation to his work doubtless saved thousands of lives and could have saved thousands more if only he had been taken seriously sooner. This is a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes social or medical history or just enjoys a really good story.

Rating: - Thoroughly engrossing and informative

This was a very illuminating and intelligent read that manages to combine fascinating social history with the struggle of an individual to make himself heard, without either grandiloquising nor over-simplifying. I finished the book in a single (day-long) sitting, such was my attention held! What did strike me, even more than the achievements of John Snow, was how the medical and political establishment were so reluctant to make a decisive connection between choleraic effluent infecting the water supply, when it seems so staringly obvious. So in the end my abiding impression was not of the quiet genius of John Snow, but rather the blinding stupidity of all the other alleged 'experts'. But I think the author struck this balance rather effectively, and in fact John Snow was not glorified or made heroic by the narrative, but the whole thing rather carried itself as a quiet tragedy, with so many people needlessly dying because of the blind illogic of the establishment. Truly many lessons to be learned from this excellent book. Recommended to academics and laypeople alike for its accessible yet thorough style, with both footnotes and cliffhangers aplenty.

Rating: - Truly a 5 star read ...

This book is full of interesting facts presented in a fascinating way. It follows a story of a quiet, but determined doctor to discover the truth behind the reoccurring epidemics and it's that journey that will keep you on the edge of your sit. The arguments among the medical professionals are incredible, every time you hope for a final breakthrough there is another setback and the journey means that you won't be able to put the book down. What is also fascinating is how the author managed to add other interesting medical facts including a royal birth with newly discovered methods of pain killers. There are all kind of interesting stories and the way it's added together makes the book truly a 5 star read!

Rating: - Well Researched and Well Written

I could not fault this book. The author has obviously carried a lot of research on John Snow and also on the Cholera epidemics. If this is your topic, then this is your book.

Rating: - Engrossing from start to finish

It was through the BBC series "Seven wonders of the Industrial World" that I first learned of the life and work of Dr John Snow and it was this that prompted me to buy Sandra Hempel's book, and I am so glad I did. It is a first rate story of one mans quest to understand and treat a terrfying disease and of the fierce opposition he faced from his peers, it is also a magnificent insight into society, disease and some of the appalling treatments metered out to try and cure patients in Victorian England. If nothing else after reading this book you may not looks at the NHS in such a poor light, considering how you would have been treated one hundred and fifty years ago.

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