Rating: 
Summary: An Unknown Aspect of American History
Review: Pox Americana tells the story of the great smallpox epidemic of the 1770s and 1780s in North America. The epidemic affected the American Revolution because colonial soldiers who had not been previously exposed to smallpox contracted it in huge numbers, particularly in the New England and Southern colonies where inoculation had not been a widespread practice. As a result of the disease British troops, most of whom had already been through the disease or been inoculated for it, found another advantage over the Americans in the early stages of the war. Fenn goes into somewhat harrowing detail as she describes the sufferings of those who contracted the disease and those who went through the inoculation process, which must have been almost as awful as the disease itself.Although the British had an advantage over the colonial soldiers in that most of them were already immune to smallpox, the King's forces still suffered from the epidemic due to the inroads the disease made among the slaves who flocked to join the British armies, particularly in the Southern colonies. In the African American population the smallpox germ found another previously unexposed host, and the results were once more incredibly deadly. Fenn documents several cases where the British and later the Americans themselves practiced a primitive type of biological war by releasing contagious people into unexposed populations and by allowing items used by sufferers to be distributed to healthy people In the Native American territories west of the thirteen colonies smallpox also spread like wildfire. Fenn does a good job of tracing possible routes the disease followed as it spread from settlement to settlement along trade routes and shipping lanes, decimating the Indians, who again had no previous exposure and thus no defenses. Pox Americana is valuable because it reminds us of our vulnerability to diseases which spread silently from victim to victim, and helps us realize that one of the deadliest weapons of war is not man made (though it is often deliberately helped along its way)
Rating:
Summary: An Unknown Aspect of American History
Review: Pox Americana tells the story of the great smallpox epidemic of the 1770s and 1780s in North America. The epidemic affected the American Revolution because colonial soldiers who had not been previously exposed to smallpox contracted it in huge numbers, particularly in the New England and Southern colonies where inoculation had not been a widespread practice. As a result of the disease British troops, most of whom had already been through the disease or been inoculated for it, found another advantage over the Americans in the early stages of the war. Fenn goes into somewhat harrowing detail as she describes the sufferings of those who contracted the disease and those who went through the inoculation process, which must have been almost as awful as the disease itself. Although the British had an advantage over the colonial soldiers in that most of them were already immune to smallpox, the King's forces still suffered from the epidemic due to the inroads the disease made among the slaves who flocked to join the British armies, particularly in the Southern colonies. In the African American population the smallpox germ found another previously unexposed host, and the results were once more incredibly deadly. Fenn documents several cases where the British and later the Americans themselves practiced a primitive type of biological war by releasing contagious people into unexposed populations and by allowing items used by sufferers to be distributed to healthy people In the Native American territories west of the thirteen colonies smallpox also spread like wildfire. Fenn does a good job of tracing possible routes the disease followed as it spread from settlement to settlement along trade routes and shipping lanes, decimating the Indians, who again had no previous exposure and thus no defenses. Pox Americana is valuable because it reminds us of our vulnerability to diseases which spread silently from victim to victim, and helps us realize that one of the deadliest weapons of war is not man made (though it is often deliberately helped along its way)
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended by nervegas.com
Review: Pox is a truly scholarly work based on primary historical documents. It is obvious that it was a true labor of love by Prof. Fenn. The epidemic that Fenn studied is a particularly valuable in understanding a little known area of the American Revolutionary War (though her scope covers the entire North American Continet). Many know that the British had released smallpox on French alligned tribes seiging Ft. Pitt during the French Indian War. Less known was the great concern that General George Washington had about smallpox during the American Revolution. Elsewhere, it has been described that the main reason the seige of Boston lasted as long as it did was due to smallpox, and that the Continental Army was the first army in world history to require compulsory immunization - force-wide. Prof. Fenn paints an even darker picture. It could be said that the events with smallpox during the Revolutionary War was America's first biological emergency. She clearly documents cases that appear to be obvious attempts by the British to infect COntinental Forces with smallpox at Boston, and later in Virginia. The Virginia case is most appauling as the British turned freed slaves (loyalists) into their delivery vehicle. The failure to innoculate forces was cited as the main reason the Continental Army failed to take Canada. The army literally melted away, with replacements being taken down as soon as they arrived. Eventually, 1777, the Continental Army required that all new recruits go through innoculation stations before joining the army. The remainder of the book (2/3rds) describes the impact of smallpox on other communities in North America. The impact on the tribes around Vancouver at the time clearly documents how devistating disease can be to a civilization.
Rating:
Summary: Thinking about the Unthinkable
Review: Smallpox usually isn't near the top of anyone's favorite book subject list, but recent terrorist events have made all of us aware of the need to reacquaint ourselves with diseases long thought eradicated. Smallpox is one such disease. This book was exhaustively researched by the author, a college professor. She did basic research into the likely causes of the epidemics years ago in the Native American population and the colonists. The reader will have a keen appreciation for the overwhelming public health problem that smallpox would present today.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent examination of disease as a history maker
Review: The book is an exciting and readable account of smallpox's impact on early North and Central America. Fenn interweaves personal accounts from journals and historical documents with statistics gleaned from various public records to give the reader a front row seat in the macabre dance of death that smallpox represented. She makes compelling arguments that the disease had as great an impact on the American revolutionary war as did the decisions of the fledgling nation's leaders. Fenn provides the readers with enough scientific and medical details to bring them up to speed, but not so much as to discourage the nonprofessional from enjoying the book. Altogether, a very enjoyable book; well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Provides a riveting history as well as a health survey
Review: The great smallpox epidemic of 1775-82 is covered in a survey which reveals not only the spread of the disease, but how it made an impact on the Revolutionary War's outcome and how it affected the lives of everyone in North America. In linking the progress of the disease to social and political changes in climate, Pox Americana provides a riveting history as well as a health survey of infectious disease in society.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and timely book
Review: This book is well written, well researched and provides not only a unique view of biological factors that influenced course of the American Revolution, but it is a very timely look at a microbe now in the news. We are reminded that not much has changed in the treatment of smallpox and the potential damage that can be done if this scourge returns. A book worth reading and thinking about both for what it reveals about the past and for what it might tell us about the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Remarkably Good.
Review: This is an excellent work. It bogs down a bit in the second half but only for 30 or so pages as the author gets into the detail of some purported statistical analysis, information that could have been handled as an appendix. But overall it is a wow! Starting with the impact of smallpox on the American Revolution, 1775 - 1782, Elizabeth Fenn continues her study with concurrent analyses of Mexico, where Church burial records provide a very solid underpinning for the magnitude of the epidemic, the Canadian interior, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The devastation was appalling Fenn's effort was no simple task. The unexpected bonus is that for the first time I began to understand the magnitude of trading patterns that had been established by Native Americans on the North American Continent, before the arrival of Europeans. This is a wonderful book, very enlightening and very well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: A Timely Lesson from History
Review: This moment in American history is not the first time that Americans have debated protection from Smallpox. Ms. Fenn has painted a haunting picture of an earlier America with the same inability to decide what was the proper course of action given the valid arguments both for and against mass population protection. I was fascinated to learn that George Washington himself was initially against mass inoculation and later in favor of it. From Ms. Fenn's book, I understood the fear of the populace that led to laws prohibiting inoculation. She has managed to paint a picture of an epidemic that helped me to understand the sheer panic that led to people inoculating themselves by cutting and packing those cuts with the scabs taken from already sick victims. Yikes. Sometimes a bit wordy with this date and that, I skipped the transmission dates and routes for the most part, although I have to say that the transmission routes between Mexico and the young U.S. was surprising to me.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent study. . .
Review: What a fantastic single-vision narrative. This text adds an interesting new dimension to an entire time period. Exceptional research on individual experiences.
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