Naples in the Time of Cholera, 1884–1911

This 1995 book is a medical and social history of Italy's largest city during the cholera epidemics of 1884 and 1910–11. It explores the factors that exposed Naples to risk; it examines such popular responses as social hysteria, riots and religiosity; and it traces therapeutic strategies. Cholera also became a metaphor for discontent with the regime: the 1884 outbreak was a national issue which led to the rebuilding of the city amidst widespread corruption. The book sets Naples in a comparative international framework; the disease is also related to larger historical issues, such as the nature of liberal statecraft, the 'Southern Question', mass emigration, organised crime, urban renewal, and the medical profession.

"Snowden's work contributes significantly to cholera's bipolar historiography....Rigorous scholarship, a clear narrative, and 'user friendly' critical apparatus sustain Snowden's thesis....An outstanding book that historians cannot ignore." Choice, "The complex relations among disease, science, attitudes, beliefs, and society are richly documented in Frank Snowden's fascinating book Naples in the Time of Cholera, 1884-1911....Snowden's account of how the lack of government control and the greed of the private sector severely compromised the program should be carefully read by proponents of unfettered free enterprise....We were both hooked by Snowden's ability to invoke our senses to experience the smells, sights, and sounds of cholera while awakening our sensibilities to the culture of the times and the parallels with today's attitudes about disease." Parker A. Small, Jr., and Natalie S. Small, New England Journal of Medicine, "Using a diverse list of interesting contemporary sources both in Italy and the United States, Frank Snowden has written a well-documented detective story..." Lawrence P. Adamczyk, The Historian, "Well-researched and powerfully written, this book is important to anyone interested in post-unitary Italy or the history of infectious dieases....excellent example of investigative history, and one only regrets that a review cannot truly do justice to the rich number of interesting secondary subjects and debates that the author manages somehow to weave into his main narrative." Steven Hughes, Journal of Social History, "...should inspire further research into the ways in which the new history of medicine can enrich our understanding of modern Italy." Mary Gibson, American Historical Review