Free Downloads
Rats, Lice And History (Papermac)

This work tells the story of the struggle between man, the highest and most complex form of animal life, and his deadly enemies, the organisms of disease, throwing light on how disease and epidemics have shaped human history. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Series: Papermac

Paperback: 320 pages

Publisher: Papermac (August 22, 1985)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0333395670

ISBN-13: 978-0333395677

Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 1.2 x 11.7 inches

Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #4,499,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #42 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Children's Health > Lice #1667 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Biostatistics #2375 in Books > Medical Books > Medicine > Internal Medicine > Pathology > Diseases > Viral

The copy of "Rats, Lice, and History" that I own was published in 1963, and this was the 33rd time it had been reissued since first appearing in 1934. I can't imagine Dr. Zinsser's grumpily discursive, masterfully written, and ultimately profound biography of typhus fever ever going completely out of print. Stylistically the only work I can compare it to is Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". Where Gibbon occasionally dipped his pen in vinegar and excoriated the Christians, Zinsser dips his pen in hydrochloric acid and savages all of the quaint human customs that have kept Typhus alive and thriving. He shows much more affectionate sympathy for the louse than he does for the General or the Politician. Witness:"The louse shares with us the misfortune of being prey to the typhus virus. If lice can dread, the nightmare of their lives is the fear of some day inhabiting an infected rat or human being. For the host may survive; but the ill-starred louse that sticks his haustellum through an infected skin, and imbibes the loathsome virus with his nourishment, is doomed beyond succor. In eight days he sickens, in ten days he is 'in extremis', on the eleventh or twelfth his tiny body turns red with blood extravasated from his bowel, and he gives up his little ghost."In the interests of research, Zinsser carried pill boxes of lice under his socks for weeks at a time before taking "advantage of them for scientific purposes." He is not able to tear himself away from these little creatures and address the true subject of his biography, i.e. the typhus virus, until Chapter 12!

Rats, Lice and History (Papermac) How To Get Rid Of Lice: Discover How To Get Rid Of Head Lice, Useful Home Remedies For Lice And Which Lice Treatment You Should Choose For Getting Rid Of Lice! How To Treat Head Lice In 14 Minutes: Treatment, Removal, Home Remedies, Hair Lice Shampoo, How To Kill Lice Eggs, Body Lice Nits, How Do You Get, Head Lice Facts Book Get rid of lice and nits: Head lice, pubic lice and body lice advice, treatment and prevention Rats, Lice and History: Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals With the Life History of Typhus Fever Rats, Lice and History (Penguin Classic History) Natural Lice Treatment: How To Get Rid Of Lice and Nits Without Combing or Toxic Chemicals (Kill Lice Naturally Without Any Pesticides) (Organic Pest Control) Get Rid Of Lice: Lice 101 and Stopping Lice Safely How to get Rid of Lice - All About Lice : Lice Treatment,Detection,Management Rats, Lice and History: Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensible for the Preparation of the Lay Reader Rats, Lice and History Rats, Lice and History: a Study in Biography Rats, Lice and History. The Biography of a Bacillus. Rats, Lice, and History: Being a Study In Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Rats, Lice and History; Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader Natural Lice and Scabies Control: How to Get Rid of Lice, Nits and Scabies Without Toxic Chemicals or Pesticide Poisons Head Lice Treatment That Works! How to Safely and Effectively Get Rid of and Prevent Head Lice How to get rid of head lice.: Treating and preventing head lice Head Lice Removal: Learn how to deal with a head lice infestation and what precautions you can take to prevent re-infestation Head Lice To Dead Lice