The Great Stink of Paris and the Nineteenth-Century Struggle against Filth and Germs
Barnes's detailed and scholarly account is persuasive.(Science)Barnes argues convincingly that the development of public health in nineteenth-century France is best understood in terms of the integration of scientific hypotheses within broadly accepted cultural frameworks. His insightful reading of the literature on disgust offers new insights into the social and economic history of Third Republic France.(Donald Reid, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)A well-developed study in medically related social history, it tells an intriguing tale and prompts us to ask how our own cultural contexts affect our views and actions regarding environmental and infections scourges here and now.(New England Journal of Medicine)Both a captivating story and a sophisticated historical study. Kudos to Barnes for this valuable and insightful book that both physicians and historians will enjoy.(JAMA)A remarkable contribution to the field of nineteenth-century studies.(Ioanna ChatzidimitriouDalhousie French Studies)A very worthy addition.(Olga AmsterdamskaIsis)Exemplary study... The argument of this book rests on an interesting amalgam of insights from critical theorists and social scientists.(Elizabeth A. WilliamsJournal of the History of Medicine)Useful.(Sharon MarcusAmerican Historical Review)The book's relevance to modern-day medical concerns will make it appealing to nurses, public health experts, and medical professionals in general.(Karol K. Weaver, PhDNursing History Review)David Barnes wallows in filth to very good purpose...The Great Stink of Parisdemonstrates in exemplary fashion the value of complicating medical-historical issues by lifting our vision above ideological and narrowly social concerns so as to explore the broader cultural context of medical ideas and practices.(Colin JonesH-France)In less than a generation, Barnes demonstrates in this intelligent and beautifully argued book, a new consensus on the causes and mechanisms of disease.(David L. HowellHistorical Studies in the Natural Sciences)Barnes does a splendid job of depicting public anxieties about the stench that overwhelmed Parisians in 1880, and of tracing the campaign by government officials and physicians to respond to these concerns during the following two decades. His book makes an important contribution to both urban history and medical history through its recalibration to both urban history and medical history through its recalibration of the history of public health.(Jann MatlockFrench Politics, Culture & Society)