A National Bestseller a New York Times Notable Book and an Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year from the author of Extra Life By turns a medical thriller detective story and paean to city life Johnson s account of the outbreak and its modern implications is a true page-turner. --The Washington Post Thought-provoking. --Entertainment Weekly It s the summer of 1854 and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure-garbage removal clean water sewers-necessary to support its rapidly expanding population the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold a physician and a local curate are spurred to action-and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time. In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of disease the rise of cities and the nature of scientific inquiry offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.