{"product_id":"9781466808041","title":"Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe astonishing, hitherto unknown truths about a disease that transformed the United States at its birth\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA  horrifying epidemic of smallpox was sweeping across the Americas when  the American Revolution began, and yet we know almost nothing about it.  Elizabeth A. Fenn is the first historian to reveal how deeply variola  affected the outcome of the war in every colony and the lives of  everyone in North America.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy 1776, when military action and  political ferment increased the movement of people and microbes, the  epidemic worsened. Fenn's remarkable research shows us how smallpox  devastated the American troops at Québec and kept them at bay during the  British occupation of Boston. Soon the disease affected the war in  Virginia, where it ravaged slaves who had escaped to join the British  forces. During the terrible winter at Valley Forge, General Washington  had to decide if and when to attempt the risky inoculation of his  troops. In 1779, while Creeks and Cherokees were dying in Georgia,  smallpox broke out in Mexico City, whence it followed travelers going  north, striking Santa Fe and outlying pueblos in January 1781.  Simultaneously it moved up the Pacific coast and east across the plains  as far as Hudson's Bay.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe destructive, desolating power of  smallpox made for a cascade of public-health crises and heartbreaking  human drama. Fenn's innovative work shows how this mega-tragedy was met  and what its consequences were for America.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47182114914544,"sku":"9781466808041","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781466808041_p0.jpg?v=1763685420","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781466808041","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}