Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read for Any Lover of American History
Review: During the crisis of today, Pox Americana by Elizabeth Fenn has greater significance. Fenn does a fantastic job in portraying a major force in the battle for independence and developing American nation-small pox. This virus, which is often overlooked in history textbooks, played a vital role in the early days of the nation. Fenn presents the information in a logical and systematic way, allowing for a smooth flow throughout the book. The book also discusses the impact of the virus on Native Americans, an often overlooked group. It is an all-inclusive, well thought out text, which is the best book I have read in some time.
Rating: 
Summary: The Pox in North America
Review: Elizabeth A. Fenn's Pox Americana (The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82) is an interesting book that traces the course of this horrendous pox as it veers bloodily throughout the continent of North America. It is very well researched and assembled with great skill. The writing lacks a little narrative punch to carry it over to great pop history but it has all the details in the writing for the history fan to enjoy following this story. The most interesting (and important) aspect of the pox story is the tale beyond the Revolutionary War in the rest of the continent, particulary the southwest, north (in Canada) and the Pacific Northwest (where the pox made first contact in many areas, ahead of Europeans). This part of the story is effectively illuminated by the author. An important book beyond its current terrorism inspired significance.
Rating:
Summary: Germ warfare and the conquest of new territory
Review: Germ warfare isn't a new idea to us. This book, while clearly stating the impact of smallpox during American's war for independence, also gives us a deeper understanding of how the rest of the continent was made available for conquest. The organizational style was overwhelming at times. I occasionally needed to refer back to earlier sections of the book to clarify dates and places. The title is intriguing and prompted many conversations.
Rating:
Summary: Following the smallpox trail
Review: I first read of the devastation that smallpox wrought on the Continental Army while reading David McCullough's terrific biography, "John Adams" and was lucky enough to have seen, subsequently, "Pox Americana" author Elizabeth Fenn delve more deeply into the topic on cable TV's C-Span "Booknotes." Professor Fenn has written a well-researched book on smallpox....one that is not only informative, but generally easily readable.This is really two books. The first half covers the trail of Variola (smallpox) transmission throughout the course of the American Revolution and in this first half, Ms. Fenn writes with a prose that captures the reader with graphic details of the harshness of the disease itself, the suffering of those who were unlucky enough to have caught it, and the fear that became a constant in the lives of not only those who fought militarily but those in the civilian ranks as well. She gives us facts about how the smallpox incubates, how long it takes to run its course and how it was so easily transmittable. The reader can almost hear the agony of those inflicted and see the smallpox spread over their bodies. Ms. Fenn points to a tie-in (also in the McCullough book) that it is very likely that the British had tried to use the transmission of smallpox from their more disease-tolerant armies to the weaker American ones as an example of the first "germ warfare" thrust upon our newly independent country. The fact that George Washington had the timely sense (and good fortune) to inoculate his army during the winter of 1777, thus proving it to be a turning point in the war, is a remarkable story in itself....not one I'm sure that most students learn in school! The narrative in the second half of "Pox Americana" is weaker. Ms. Fenn, while continuing to do a superb in-depth job at following the disease around North America (mostly through Indian tribes), loses her descriptive appeal. The book now becomes more of an encyclopedia of numbers of deaths, which tribe could have passed it to which other one, and so on. At points we are inundated by the vast numbers of tribes and without the help of some elementary-looking maps, the reader can quite easily get lost. Still, the author has put forth her research at a compelling depth. I wonder now that Ms. Fenn has written this book, is there another book in her future which keeps the more fascinating Revolutionary War aspect and includes all different types of diseases that may have hit the colonists? She would be just the one to write it.
Rating:
Summary: Another side to history!
Review: If we think that America has never known an infectious epidemic other than the Great Influenza after World War I, we'd be wise to consider the smallpox pandemic that swept the length & breadth of the North American continent just as the Revolutionary fever did. Pox American: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 is a fascinating way to learn about the early years of our nation when cultures collided on this continent. Each chapter starts with a story of one man - a ship's captain exploring the Straits of Juan de Fuca or a New England volunteer in the Continental Army or a missionary riding the dusty Southwest trails. From these individual's stories we can see scope of the virus' reach. With pictographs, maps, charts & photographs, this author brings this contagion close to home! Sometimes the dread disease was an invisible passenger upon an unsuspecting carrier that would arrive in a tribe of otherwise healthy people & within weeks, the entire community would be dead. Sometimes it was intentionally sent forth by our wily forefathers to do their deadly work. Smallpox haunted our ancestors from coast to coast; from Russian promyshlenniki (hunters & traders) who first explored & then enslaved the residents of Alaska to America's breadbasket, where entire native communities of farmers & hunter-gatherers were wiped out in weeks to Hudson Bay, New Orleans, The South as well as Mexico City. Elizabeth Fenn writes: "The pestilence can teach us the ways in which other upheavels - native warfare, missionization, the fur trade, and the acquisition of horses and guns...reshaped human life on the North American continent. The movement of the virus from one human being to another shows us how people actually lived in the late eighteenth century. For despite the political, social, and racial boundaries of the day, people rubbed elbows." I cannot do justice to the scope & breadth of this author's research. Pox Americana is a compelling read, a dread-filled chronicle of another aspect of our story & Professor Elizabeth Fenn has written a rich & interesting story with a huge Notes Section, as befits a teacher of history!
Rating: 
Summary: Pox Americana
Review: Lots of people got smallpox, and many of them died. OK, now you do not need to read this dull book.
Rating:
Summary: Pox Americana
Review: Lots of people got smallpox, and many of them died. OK, now you do not need to read this dull book.
Rating:
Summary: A Timely Lesson from History
Review: More scholarly than "entertaining" in tone, this book traces smallpox epidemics and their influence upon the progress of war, settlement, and "who wins" in the race for political and social primacy. If you've an interest in colonial history (particularly the war for independence in the southern colonies), you'll find that this book explains just how significantly smallpox affected the war's progress (something only tangentially mentioned in other histories I've read) as well as the role it played in the rise and fall of various Indian tribes. I particularly appreciate the author's restraint in making sweeping or hysterical value judgements about the actions of various individuals or nations -- she documents what is, and is not, known and permits the reader to make those judgements for himself.
Rating:
Summary: Good follow-on to "Guns, Germs, & Steel" &"Washington's War
Review: More scholarly than "entertaining" in tone, this book traces smallpox epidemics and their influence upon the progress of war, settlement, and "who wins" in the race for political and social primacy. If you've an interest in colonial history (particularly the war for independence in the southern colonies), you'll find that this book explains just how significantly smallpox affected the war's progress (something only tangentially mentioned in other histories I've read) as well as the role it played in the rise and fall of various Indian tribes. I particularly appreciate the author's restraint in making sweeping or hysterical value judgements about the actions of various individuals or nations -- she documents what is, and is not, known and permits the reader to make those judgements for himself.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and a joy to read!
Review: Pox Americana by Elizabeth Fenn is a great piece of work! Smallpox was one of those virtually forgotten diseases. Elizabeth's book brings together the most comprehensive and yet an easy reading reference on the disease. The information is presented in a logical and systematic way allowing for a smooth flow and easy reading. The book demonstrates how such diseases are not just military factors but are wars in themselves! Elizabeth shows clearly how the disease has shaped our nation. This is rather timely considering the dire need for such a reference under the prevailing threats of bio-terrorism. It is a book that should provide all the information that you need to understand the threats from smallpox. I particularly liked the thorough examination of the historical facts which eases viewing our present situation in an historical context. The other book that really compares with it is "Bugs in Armor: a tale of malaria and soldiering" by Robert Bwire.
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