The Forgotten Plague: How the Battle Against Tuberculosis was Won – and Lost by Frank Ryan M.D.

460 pages

★★★★

This is the story of tuberculosis – where it was believed to start, the race for a cure, the continuing prevalence of it, etc. I decided to read this book since my city was once a hotspot for sanatoriums, believed to a cure due to our “clean, fresh air”. And when I found out the museum I volunteer at was opening up a huge exhibit on how tuberculosis shaped our city, I figured it was a great time to pick this book up. Was it more information than I needed to know? Perhaps. But this girl loves going deep into such things.

I really enjoyed this book, more than I thought it would. While at some points it was almost bogged down with facts, it often read like a novel and I appreciated that. There were a lot of names and locations to keep track of and I just needed to remind myself to NOT read this book just as I was dozing off each night. Keeping everything straight could be a chore if I wasn’t focusing on it. There was so much I learned from reading The Forgotten Plague and it was one of those books I came away feeling much more educated on the subject. It was well researched, always a plus. The book was published in 1994, with writing occurring from 1989-1992 so I wouldn’t say the “current” section of this book was quite so current anymore (the fear of AIDS is quite prevalent as it was still fairly new during the writing). An updated chapter or two would have been nice but I guess I will have to use the awesome power of the internet and do my own research on that. Is this book for everyone? Certainly not. If you are big into the study of diseases, science, or history there are bits and pieces for you here. If you enjoy all three subjects? Then you might geek out on this book, just as I did.
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Frank Ryan writes overly long about the attempts to fight tuberculosis. Admittedly, Ryan is no historian. His work bounces along from one aspect of the stuggle to another, while only the most tenuous relation is suggested. He bogs down in the details of tangential aspects of the story and it is only in reflective hindsight that one begins to ( )