Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Stephen R. Bown (Author), Dan Cashman (Narrator)

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

During the eighteenth century, medicine had advanced little from the Dark Ages; there were few cures for anything. Bown's fascinating biography of that maritime age tells of two doctors and Captain James Cook-all sailing against prevailing winds-and how their contributions led to a cure for a common mariners-disease of the time, scurvy. The name of the preventive and remedy -ascorbic acid-comes from the outdated word "antiscorbutic." With the voice of a storyteller, Dan Cashman tells of the unsanitary conditions of life at sea; details such as weevils in sailors' biscuits and corpses stored in French ships' bilges abound. To humorous advantage, Cashman uses the same foreign accent for all languages, including his Napoleonic quotes. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: New Millennium; Unabridged edition (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590075560
• ISBN-13: 978-1590075562
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,260,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting subject and pretty good book., May 29, 2008

By 

Charles Hall (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail (Audio CD)

This is a perfectly adequate audio book. I think if I were reading a paper copy I might have skimmed over a few sections, but as an audio book it's fine. The history of survey and the associated politics in the Royal Navy is pretty amazing stuff. If you're at all interested in naval history, you'll enjoy this.

The downside is the guy reading the book is just OK, and the text can get pretty repetitious. For example, the symptoms of scurvy are described in detail a zillion times.