Rotting Face: Smallpox and the American Indian

Rating:
Summary: An accurate and revealing historical account
Review: Rotting Face by author and historian R. G. Robertson is an accurate and revealing historical account of the cruelty of a devastating disease that decimated a people with no immunological defense against it. Variola major, commonly known as smallpox, dubbed "Rotting Face" was first carried to Native American peoples by means of a steamboat voyage, and carved a deadly swath of sickness, suffering, and death everywhere it spread. It destroyed the American Indian cultures of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arickara in less than a year, devoured entire villages of the Blackfeet, and claimed more lives from the Northern Plains tribes in one year than all the military expeditions ever sent against American Indians. Rotting Face is a compelling, graphic account dedicated to providing cold, hard facts and dispelling myths, particuarly in regard to the role of whites in the spread of this lethal disease. Highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in Native American history, as well as the history of deadly diseases.

Rating:
Summary: uncritical use of data
Review: The text of this book is often redundant and filled with uncritical, often racist, paraphrases and quotes from "those at the scene". As much as I admire his thoroughness in using original diaries and reports, it is less than useful to cite the contents of such reports in mind numbing detail. As a medical anthropologist and long time lover of medical history I was disappointed and am taking the book back for a refund.