The Red Velvet Lawyer

The Event Missing from our High-School History Books Pox American: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 by Elizabeth A. Fern is a powerful analysis of a major public health event that played an important role in the future of the nation later known as the United States of America. It could have cost the Continental Army a win in the Revolutionary War with Britain.  It made conquering the interior of the country easier after smallpox killed 50 to 90 percent of the Native American population. By the time I read this book, I had already read books on  Ebola  in 20th century US, cholera  in 19th century England, the  Black Plague  in 14th century France, malaria  across the centuries and across the world, and the  Spanish flu  in 20th century US.  But this book carried more emotional weight.  Without ever saying as much, its pages spoke of great sadness and fear.  The viral illness was endemic to the Old World.  By the late 1700s, many men in the British army had

Timeless Lessons About Human Behavior When I first saw the pandemic spread West from Wuhan as I sat in my Qatar office, the New York Times published a list of seven books on pandemics .  Being an academic who likes to use "teachable moments" to increase my own knowledge and understanding, I ordered all of them.  They arrived in Doha just as officials ordered educators to start distance learning on March 10.  Safe at home and free of many campus-related responsibilities, I now had more time to read, and so I did. I started with the book on Ebola in 20th century US, then cholera in 19th century England, then the Black Plague in 14th century France, then malaria across the centuries and across the world, then the Spanish flu in 20th century US, and most recently smallpox in the US during the Revolutionary War period.  I am now reading a book that asks how we plan to handle future pandemics .  I still need to read the book on HIV/AIDS , a pandemic I rem