Captain of Death: The Story of Tuberculosis [Paperback]

Thomas M. Daniel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 1999 | ISBN-10: 1580460704 | ISBN-13: 978-1580460705 | Edition: 1

The dramatic story of tuberculosis is told here in a straightforward and accessible style. It presents the stories of persons connected with the disease, either as victims, or as those who made contributions to our knowledge of it; in addition to these personal accounts, the book unfolds the history and explains the pathogenesis of TB. The re-emergence of tuberculosis as a major American public health hazard has focused much attention on this ancient disease. This book offers a comprehensive account of the disease from prehistoric times through to the present day, detailing the attempts to eradicate it completely. Its four separate sections (the spread of tuberculosis; its infectious nature; susceptibility to it; and methods of treatment) are linked through the device of presenting individuals' particular experience of the disease, whether as as victims, or as those who made contributions to our knowledge of it; in between these vignettes, the book unfolds the history and explains the pathogenesis of TB. A detailed medical glossary completes the volume.

Editorial Reviews

From The New England Journal of Medicine

The history of tuberculosis has been the subject of numerous books by academic historians, physicians, and even journalists during the past five years. Daniel's Captain of Death: The Story of Tuberculosis gives a fine introduction to the fascinating history of the disease, told in an unusually friendly manner. Daniel successfully communicates his love of the subject, beginning with the appropriate horrible statistics detailing the current magnitude of tuberculosis worldwide, and his literary style will pull the reader along effortlessly. In his introduction, Daniel makes it clear that the book is intended for general readers, and I highly recommend it for such persons.

The reader should understand, however, that this is a history written by a physician, filled with stories of the heroes of the struggle against tuberculosis: the physicians. Although the chapters on Calmette and Guerin and on the early development of streptomycin and isoniazid are informative and interesting, Daniel is almost worshipful in his description of Robert Koch, who remains a central figure throughout the book. Given Koch's unscientific and unprofessional behavior with respect to injecting tuberculin and reporting his work to the world, I would be less sanguine than Daniel in attributing his actions to an excess of "hope, compassion, and desire outpac[ing] science and reason." Many historians have provided far more critical -- and I believe more objective -- analyses of Koch's conduct.

Of course, there are tales of patients in the book, but they tend to be often-told tales -- those of Keats, Chopin, and the Bronte family, along with those of a few more modern celebrities, including Josephine Baker and the tennis champion Alice Marble. I would have preferred more stories of the less famous rather than the same tale about Chopin that Rene Dubos told 40 years ago, but for the general reader these stories may be new and interesting; they are certainly told in an entertaining manner.

In describing the early public health measures taken to control tuberculosis, including the use of sanatoriums, Daniel weaves together nicely the stories of Harriet Ryan, Edward Livingston Trudeau, and Lawrence Flick, and readers with little or no knowledge of the subject will find the accomplishments of these people appropriately inspiring. Given the importance of the sanatorium movement, a few more facts and figures would have been welcome. This is not an academic history book, however, and there are neither primary sources nor more than passing references to the work in this field done by others, including that of Barbara Bates and Sheila Rothman, to mention nothing of that done by the Duboses. Nor is there an in-depth analysis of the complicated social and political dimensions of the disease.

The strongest parts of the book are the chapters that discuss the pathophysiology of tuberculosis, particularly its immunologic aspects. Here, Daniel does a masterly job of describing the development of the field of immunology, using language that a nonmedical person can easily understand, without oversimplifying. His passion for this part of the study is obvious, and it is a pleasure reading about the early use of tuberculin to diagnose bovine tuberculosis and Clemens von Pirquet's use of tuberculin in diagnosing human tuberculosis. Daniel discusses the causes of false positive and false negative tuberculin tests, tracing these causes as they were understood over time in a way that connects stepwise scientific discoveries with practical consequences, specifically the control of bovine tuberculosis.

Similarly, Daniel's detailing of Merrill Chase's experiments with guinea pigs that led to the discovery of the role of lymphocytes in cellular immunity is presented nicely in the context of the repeated failures of other scientists, who were using antibodies and passive immunity to treat patients. The chapter on the slow, frustrating labor involved in the discovery of streptomycin, beginning with Selman Waksman's work with organisms found in soil and proceeding through Albert Schatz's identification of Streptomyces griseus, presents nicely what unfortunately became a battle between two bacteriologists. Daniel wisely opts not to choose sides.

Daniel ends his book with a description of the current desperate situation in Haiti and his strong advocacy of more aid for programs to control tuberculosis in the countries where the disease remains rampant. He correctly points out that wealthier nations have a responsibility to help and that "it is a fallacy to think of tuberculosis in any but global terms." Daniel's profound commitment to his subject is apparent, not only in this part of the book but throughout, and it makes this a work that I strongly recommend, both to the general reader and to the physician whose area of expertise may not be infectious diseases.

Reviewed by Karen Brudney, M.D.
Copyright © 1998 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

This beautifully written and thoroughly researched monograph. . . traces the history of TB from prehistory through today. It is both synoptic and chronologic in approach, and always logical and readable. --Choice

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Rochester Press; 1 edition (June 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580460704
• ISBN-13: 978-1580460705
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,386,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opening history of a nearly forgotten plague, March 11, 2000

By 

John P. Callan (Portland, Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Captain of Death: The Story of Tuberculosis (Hardcover)

As a child that started grade school in the 1950s, I remember standing in lines for TB skin tests. Now, after reading this remarkable book and learning of the many luminaries in the arts, sciences, literature, politics, and the aristocracy that fell to this forgotten killer, I feel profoundly lucky to be born after 1948. I'm amazed the story of tuberculosis is not more well known, for it's a story the deserves to be told, retold, and remembered. Another well-kept secret from the text is that today TB still kills more people worldwide than AIDS and all of the tropical diseases combined. How did Dan Rather missed this scandal?

On a light note, it's interesting that a recent (I thought) ideal of beauty, the Kate Moss "heroin" look, is really quite old. The text described how young and beautiful women were considered to be even more beautiful if they appeared to be pale and wasting away with TB--the "consumtive" look. Strange how history repeats its self.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The narrative isn't linear, January 24, 2008

By 

Dalton C. Rocha (Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Captain of Death: The Story of Tuberculosis (Paperback)

I read this good book, here in Brazil.This book is concise and easy to read.It wasn't made for doctors, but for general public.I'm not a doctor.I'm an agronomist.
Some photos; all black and white.
The main failure of this book is to be non-linear.A chapter about tuberculosis today, is before a chapter about the discovery of bacterial origin of tuberculosis.
Among the best parts of this book, there's the proof that tuberculosis declined before medicines against it, were found in late 1940 decade.Better sanitarization, better food, pasteurization,etc. put tuberculosis in decline, since late XVIII Century.