Disease and Empire
The Health of European Troops in the Conquest of Africa

This book, first published in 1998, examines the practice of military medicine during the conquest of Africa.

Philip D. Curtin (Author)

9780521591690, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 May 1998

290 pages, 27 b/w illus. 14 maps 38 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.6 kg

"The author's uncommon skills for nuanced narrative, statistical analysis, and for explaining the causes of major historical events have been employed effectively to produce an outstanding study." Toyin Falola, The Historian

Before the nineteenth century, European soldiers serving in the tropics died from disease at a rate several times higher than that of soldiers serving at home. Then, from about 1815 to 1914, the death rates of European soliders, both those serving at home and abroad, dropped by nearly 90%. But this drop applied mainly to soliders in barracks. Soldiers on campaign, especially in the tropics, continued to die from disease at rates as high as ever, in sharp contrast to the drop in barracks death rates. This book, first published in 1998, examines the practice of military medicine during the conquest of Africa, especially in the 1880s and 1890s. Curtin examines what was done, what was not done, and the impact of doctors' successes and failures on the willingness of Europeans to embark on imperial adventures.

Preface
1. The West African disease background
2. The march to Magdala
3. The march to Kumasi
4. Conquest in the West African tropics, 1879–1900
5. Typhoid fever and the garrison of Egypt, 1882–1914
6. The typhoid campaigns: Northeastern Africa in the 1880s
7. The last campaigns in Eastern Africa: Madagascar and Omdurman, 1895–8
8. The Anglo-Boer War
9. Retrospect.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]