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Health and Welfare during Industrialization (review)

Chapter 7, however, deals with the global diversity of islands and examines connections between disease, on the one hand, and climate and seasonality, on the other. To this point the plagues under scrutiny have been the old and classic ones such as measles, cholera, and the like. But in chapter 8 new diseases are dealt with, such as AIDS (within the Caribbean archipelago), and unusual ones like kuru (New Guinea) that do not necessarily fit (at least not well) into a general theory of island epidemiology—this treatment taking place within the context of a global survey of disease outbreaks. A concluding chapter considering “Island Futures” once again stresses the importance of islands as laboratories, and suggests they can serve as surveillance devices for monitoring global disease activity, including the chronic diseases of affluence. Such a brief sketch does little justice to this intricately detailed study that is crammed with plates and figures, including charts, graphs, maps, drawings, handwritten medical records, and even photographs of the early and modern ships and airplanes and of many of the individuals discussed. The authors are adept at the statistical and mathematical modeling of spatial processes, and many of their chapters are followed by appendices setting forth such evidence. These can be heavy going, but they do not detract from the book’s readability because of their placement. Appendices following the text provide sources of morbidity, mortality, and population data for each of the many islands the authors have studied, and a bibliography of island epidemics. An extensive (and invaluable) general bibliography, along with a comprehensive index, round out the work. Island Epidemics is a definitive effort that should be required reading, not just for epidemiologists, but for all individuals interested in the historical geography of disease.