“Absorbing and SUPERBLY researched” with my emphasis on superbly. I agree with Miranda Seymour! Rocco is an award winning investigative journalist. Her interest in medicine began with her grandparents in Africa in the 1920s. They were blessed to get quinine tablets made locally because cinchona seeds/trees from Peru had been planted there decades earlier.
World history over four centuries is told from
- Tragic loss of life due to malaria in Europe, Africa, Panama, South America, Middle East, India and Asia.
- The cure identified by Jesuits in Peru in the 1600s as quinine (so bitter tasting, people thought they were being poisoned) written documentation in early 1630s.
- Theories challenged! Treatment changed! (Malaria DNA dates back to 5th century.)
- Rocco accessed original records from 1624 and more periods…exquisite documentation, details that enrich readers with life, times, goals, accomplishments of key figures.
- “Tree of Fevers” published in 1713 in Madrid
- The narrative fully immerses the reader wars, exploration, building the Panama Canal, challenges of exporting seeds and cinchona tree to other continents to save thousands of lives globally.
Enjoy reading!
elfcroft 