Review of the book: Health and Disease in Human History: A Journal of Interdisciplinary History Reader (Robert I. Rotberg ed., MIT Press 2000). ISBN 0- 262-18207-6 [345 pp. $25.00 Paper, 5 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02142]

Cromwell, Terry

English

UNH Scholars' Repository

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)Volume 12Number 1 Issue number 1/2, Spring 2001 Article 12March 2001Review of: Health and Disease in Human History(Robert I. Rotberg ed.)Terry CromwellFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/riskPart of the Diseases Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, and the Nutrition CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – School of Law at University of New HampshireScholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002) by an authorized editor of University ofNew Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact ellen.phillips@law.unh.edu.Repository CitationTerry Cromwell, Review of: Health and Disease in Human History (Robert I. Rotberg ed.), 12 RISK 143 (2001).Review of: Health and Disease in Human History (Robert I. Rotberg ed.)ErratumThe book review on Health and Disease in Human History: A Journal of Interdisciplinary History Reader, 12Risk- Health, Safety & Environment 143 (2001), incorrectly identified Frank McBride as the author ofAngela's Ashes, instead of Frank McCourt.This book review is available in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002): https://scholars.unh.edu/risk/vol12/iss1/12Book Reviews 143Health and Disease in Human History: A Journal of InterdisciplinaryHistory Reader (Robert I. Rotberg ed., MIT Press 2000). ISBN 0-262-18207-6 [345 pp. $25.00 Paper, 5 Cambridge Street, Cambridge,MA 02142].Health and Disease in Human History dispels the very notion thatpoor nutrition, disease and other forms of horrific interference preventhuman advancement. Rather, Health concludes that many of thedisastrous events to which humankind has been exposed represent merespeed bumps in the path of development. There is a common theme inexample after devastating example asserted by each of the thirteenessayists: the tenacity of the human spirit is as all consuming as afootball team inhaling a pizza after practice.The essays' titles accurately represent its morose content. Forexample, the contents include articles such as: "The Slave Trade and theTransmission of Smallpox to Brazil"; "Smallpox and DemographicCatastrophe in Mexico"; and, "Africa Mortality in the Suppression ofthe Slave Trade: The Case of the Bight of Biafra." Fear not, however;the prose describing these sullen topics has been thoroughly pasteurized.The authors "clinically" speak to centuries of poverty, unsafeconditions, nutritional deprivation and disease experienced by diversecultures. Although we wept over similar insults to the human spiritwhile reading Frank McBride's Angela's Ashes, the pages in Health willremain unstained by tears.Yet, you will simultaneously cringe at the statistical horror of eachhazard confronted and marvel at each survivor's resolve. The graphicevidence of suffering in Health is incomprehensibly stark. The tediousresults scream "human misery": Scatter graphs of the relationshipbetween Infant Mortality and Log Population Density; Mortalitybetween the Bight of Biafra and Sierra Leone related to Length ofVoyage and compared with Transatlantic Mortality; the SummaryChronology of Droughts and Epidemics in Africa; or, Infant Mortalityin England and Wales.In Health, we learn that early British bakers assisted in the mortalityrates by offering up their inventive food additives to the locals (makingthe folks packaging lunchmeat in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle look like12 Risk: Health, Safety & Environment 143 [Spring 2001]a bunch of pikers). "Adulterated bread was certainly considered a causeof infant mortality in the late eighteenth century. With the addition ofchalk, alum and bone-ashes to London bread, it would be surprising ifvulnerable infants were not in one sense poisoned by being weaned onpap made with bread ...." 1Humans have been involuntarily placed in harm's way long beforeEbola's exotic extremes were portrayed in Hot Zone and The ComingPlague. And death's antidotes, while elementary and obvious to us now,were perhaps part of a simple equation that accounted for acceptablecausalities. When the "slaver" Invincival was captured near Cameroonjust before Christmas in 1826, "only 250 of 440 slaves on board ...survived the journey.... [T]he British captors reported that the shipcarried food and water 'in abundance and the best quality."'2If Emeril Lagasse's perfect recipe for life's nutritional requirementsallows the strong to enjoy and endure, lack one "insignificant"ingredient and disease will hunt the weak and young relentlessly. Infantberiberi caused by lack of thiamine accounted for 75%-85% of the25,000 beriberi deaths reported in the Philippines as recently as the1950s. The West Indian literature has frequent examples of "motherswho had produced fifteen children and lost all but two, or who 'hadborne ten children, and yet has now but one alive,' or '... who have hadfour, five, six children, without succeeding in bringing up one."' 3While I doubt that the various contributors to Health intended tometaphorically question the "hunger" of coming generations, I believethese brilliant thinkers have underestimated the breadth andcontemporary nature of their work. Since the poverty, hunger anddisease presented in Health didn't prevent human progression, Icontend the fight to overcome these most depressing aspects of lifeactually promotes human advancement. The penultimate question is:"How do we keep our children and successor generations 'hungry'enough to advance humankind when they have so much to eat?"Terry Cromwellt1 Health and Disease in Human History 49 (Robert I. Rotberg ed. 2000).2 Id. at 284.3 Id. at 245-247.t Mr. Cromwell received his J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center (1979). He is theDirector of Development at FPLC. He recently authored a book entitled Black Ice.

Review of: Health and Disease in Human History (Robert I. Rotberg ed.)

University of New Hampshire

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)
Volume 12
Number 1 Issue number 1/2, Spring 2001 Article 12
March 2001
Review of: Health and Disease in Human History
(Robert I. Rotberg ed.)
Terry Cromwell
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/risk
Part of the Diseases Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, and the Nutrition Commons
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – School of Law at University of New Hampshire
Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002) by an authorized editor of University of
New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact ellen.phillips@law.unh.edu.
Repository Citation
Terry Cromwell, Review of: Health and Disease in Human History (Robert I. Rotberg ed.), 12 RISK 143 (2001).
Review of: Health and Disease in Human History (Robert I. Rotberg ed.)
Erratum
The book review on Health and Disease in Human History: A Journal of Interdisciplinary History Reader, 12
Risk- Health, Safety & Environment 143 (2001), incorrectly identified Frank McBride as the author of
Angela's Ashes, instead of Frank McCourt.
This book review is available in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002): https://scholars.unh.edu/risk/vol12/iss1/12
Book Reviews 143
Health and Disease in Human History: A Journal of Interdisciplinary
History Reader (Robert I. Rotberg ed., MIT Press 2000). ISBN 0-
262-18207-6 [345 pp. $25.00 Paper, 5 Cambridge Street, Cambridge,
MA 02142].
Health and Disease in Human History dispels the very notion that
poor nutrition, disease and other forms of horrific interference prevent
human advancement. Rather, Health concludes that many of the
disastrous events to which humankind has been exposed represent mere
speed bumps in the path of development. There is a common theme in
example after devastating example asserted by each of the thirteen
essayists: the tenacity of the human spirit is as all consuming as a
football team inhaling a pizza after practice.
The essays' titles accurately represent its morose content. For
example, the contents include articles such as: "The Slave Trade and the
Transmission of Smallpox to Brazil"; "Smallpox and Demographic
Catastrophe in Mexico"; and, "Africa Mortality in the Suppression of
the Slave Trade: The Case of the Bight of Biafra." Fear not, however;
the prose describing these sullen topics has been thoroughly pasteurized.
The authors "clinically" speak to centuries of poverty, unsafe
conditions, nutritional deprivation and disease experienced by diverse
cultures. Although we wept over similar insults to the human spirit
while reading Frank McBride's Angela's Ashes, the pages in Health will
remain unstained by tears.
Yet, you will simultaneously cringe at the statistical horror of each
hazard confronted and marvel at each survivor's resolve. The graphic
evidence of suffering in Health is incomprehensibly stark. The tedious
results scream "human misery": Scatter graphs of the relationship
between Infant Mortality and Log Population Density; Mortality
between the Bight of Biafra and Sierra Leone related to Length of
Voyage and compared with Transatlantic Mortality; the Summary
Chronology of Droughts and Epidemics in Africa; or, Infant Mortality
in England and Wales.
In Health, we learn that early British bakers assisted in the mortality
rates by offering up their inventive food additives to the locals (making
the folks packaging lunchmeat in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle look like
12 Risk: Health, Safety & Environment 143 [Spring 2001]
a bunch of pikers). "Adulterated bread was certainly considered a cause
of infant mortality in the late eighteenth century. With the addition of
chalk, alum and bone-ashes to London bread, it would be surprising if
vulnerable infants were not in one sense poisoned by being weaned on
pap made with bread ...." 1
Humans have been involuntarily placed in harm's way long before
Ebola's exotic extremes were portrayed in Hot Zone and The Coming
Plague. And death's antidotes, while elementary and obvious to us now,
were perhaps part of a simple equation that accounted for acceptable
causalities. When the "slaver" Invincival was captured near Cameroon
just before Christmas in 1826, "only 250 of 440 slaves on board ...
survived the journey.... [T]he British captors reported that the ship
carried food and water 'in abundance and the best quality."'
2
If Emeril Lagasse's perfect recipe for life's nutritional requirements
allows the strong to enjoy and endure, lack one "insignificant"
ingredient and disease will hunt the weak and young relentlessly. Infant
beriberi caused by lack of thiamine accounted for 75%-85% of the
25,000 beriberi deaths reported in the Philippines as recently as the
1950s. The West Indian literature has frequent examples of "mothers
who had produced fifteen children and lost all but two, or who 'had
borne ten children, and yet has now but one alive,' or '... who have had
four, five, six children, without succeeding in bringing up one."'
3
While I doubt that the various contributors to Health intended to
metaphorically question the "hunger" of coming generations, I believe
these brilliant thinkers have underestimated the breadth and
contemporary nature of their work. Since the poverty, hunger and
disease presented in Health didn't prevent human progression, I
contend the fight to overcome these most depressing aspects of life
actually promotes human advancement. The penultimate question is:
"How do we keep our children and successor generations 'hungry'
enough to advance humankind when they have so much to eat?"
Terry Cromwellt
1 Health and Disease in Human History 49 (Robert I. Rotberg ed. 2000).
2 Id. at 284.
3 Id. at 245-247.
t Mr. Cromwell received his J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center (1979). He is the
Director of Development at FPLC. He recently authored a book entitled Black Ice.


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