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Hans Zinsser

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Rats, Lice and History (Social Science Classics Series) Revised Edition

by Allen Grimshaw (Editor)

4.3 67 ratings

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When Rats, Lice and History appeared in 1935, Hans Zinsser was a highly regarded Harvard biologist who had never written about historical events. Although he had published under a pseudonym, virtually all of his previous writings had dealt with infections and immunity and had appeared either in medical and scientific journals or in book format. Today he is best remembered as the author of Rats, Lice, and History, which gone through multiple editions and remains a masterpiece of science writing for a general readership.

To Zinsser, scientific research was high adventure and the investigation of infectious disease, a field of battle. Yet at the same time he maintained a love of literature and philosophy. His goal in Rats, Lice and History was to bring science, philosophy, and literature together to establish the importance of disease, and especially epidemic infectious disease, as a major force in human affairs. Zinsser cast his work as the "biography" of a disease. In his view, infectious disease simply represented an attempt of a living organism to survive. From a human perspective, an invading pathogen was abnormal; from the perspective of the pathogen it was perfectly normal.

This book is devoted to a discussion of the biology of typhus and history of typhus fever in human affairs. Zinsser begins by pointing out that the louse was the constant companion of human beings. Under certain conditions–to wash or to change clothing–lice proliferated. The typhus pathogen was transmitted by rat fleas to human beings, who then transmitted it to other humans and in some strains from human to human.

Rats, Lice and History is a tour de force. It combines Zinsser's expertise in biology with his broad knowledge of the humanities

Editorial Reviews

Review

-Zinsser's account of lice and men remains a delight. Written in 1935 as a latter-day variation on Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Zinsser's book gives a picaresque account of how the history of the world has been shaped by epidemics of louseborne typhus.....Zinnser's romp through the ancient and modern worlds describes how epidemics devastated the Byzantines under Justinian, put Charles V atop the Holy Roman Empire, stopped the Turks at the Carpathians, and turned Napolean's Grand ArmEe back from Moscow.-

--Gerald Weissmann, Emerging Infectious Diseases

-This book... is listed among the best sellers. The style is delightful, and the subject matter very interesting... [It gives an] account of man's defeats and victories against epidemics... Those who have read Dr. Zinsser's articles will enjoy this book, and to otehrs it will be a pleasant surprise.-

--Elizabeth Hard, The American Journal of Nursing

-No one who buys this book will feel cheated.-

--H. M. Parshley, Nation

-This book will surely be studied with great interest by the lay reader... [I]t presents -a fascinating blend of scientific and historical research, humour, and stimulating opinion.-

--The British Medical Journal

-I had the fun of editing Hans's book Rats, Lice and History, that unique account of what infectious diseases had done to change the fate of nations.-

--Edward Weeks, The Atlantic

"Zinsser's account of lice and men remains a delight. Written in 1935 as a latter-day variation on Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Zinsser's book gives a picaresque account of how the history of the world has been shaped by epidemics of louseborne typhus.....Zinnser's romp through the ancient and modern worlds describes how epidemics devastated the Byzantines under Justinian, put Charles V atop the Holy Roman Empire, stopped the Turks at the Carpathians, and turned Napolean's Grand ArmEe back from Moscow."

--Gerald Weissmann, Emerging Infectious Diseases

"This book... is listed among the best sellers. The style is delightful, and the subject matter very interesting... [It gives an] account of man's defeats and victories against epidemics... Those who have read Dr. Zinsser's articles will enjoy this book, and to otehrs it will be a pleasant surprise."

--Elizabeth Hard, The American Journal of Nursing

"No one who buys this book will feel cheated."

--H. M. Parshley, Nation

"This book will surely be studied with great interest by the lay reader... [I]t presents "a fascinating blend of scientific and historical research, humour, and stimulating opinion."

--The British Medical Journal

"I had the fun of editing Hans's book Rats, Lice and History, that unique account of what infectious diseases had done to change the fate of nations."

--Edward Weeks, The Atlantic

"Zinsser's account of lice and men remains a delight. Written in 1935 as a latter-day variation on Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Zinsser's book gives a picaresque account of how the history of the world has been shaped by epidemics of louseborne typhus.....Zinnser's romp through the ancient and modern worlds describes how epidemics devastated the Byzantines under Justinian, put Charles V atop the Holy Roman Empire, stopped the Turks at the Carpathians, and turned Napolean's "Grand ArmEe "back from Moscow."

--Gerald Weissmann, Emerging Infectious Diseases

"This book... is listed among the best sellers. The style is delightful, and the subject matter very interesting... [It gives an] account of man's defeats and victories against epidemics... Those who have read Dr. Zinsser's articles will enjoy this book, and to otehrs it will be a pleasant surprise."

--Elizabeth Hard, The American Journal of Nursing

"No one who buys this book will feel cheated."

--H. M. Parshley, Nation

"This book will surely be studied with great interest by the lay reader... [I]t presents "a fascinating blend of scientific and historical research, humour, and stimulating opinion."

--The British Medical Journal

"I had the fun of editing Hans's book Rats, Lice and History, that unique account of what infectious diseases had done to change the fate of nations."

--Edward Weeks, The Atlantic

"Zinsser's account of lice and men remains a delight. Written in 1935 as a latter-day variation on Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Zinsser's book gives a picaresque account of how the history of the world has been shaped by epidemics of louseborne typhus.....Zinnser's romp through the ancient and modern worlds describes how epidemics devastated the Byzantines under Justinian, put Charles V atop the Holy Roman Empire, stopped the Turks at the Carpathians, and turned Napolean's "Grand Armee "back from Moscow."- Gerald Weissmann, New York University

For more reviews, see goodreads.com.

About the Author

Allen Grimshaw

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; Revised edition (October 30, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 332 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1412806720
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1412806725
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #728,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #305 in Viral Diseases (Books)
- #368 in Communicable Diseases (Books)
- #756 in History of Medicine (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 67 ratings

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RA

Required book, good read

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2013

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Even though this book was required for a class, I found it to be entertaining and informative. This book is about how "vermin" have influenced humans throughout history, and why we have certain perceptions about rodents and insects. The book is pretty comprehensive, covering human history from the birth of agriculture to the industrial age to the present day. I think of rodents as misunderstood, so this really resonated with me and helped me understand why some people hate them so much. This book is a pretty short, quick read, so if you're interested in the history of rodents, bugs, and disease, check it out.

6 people found this helpful

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SueV

The first and best

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2015

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My all-time favorite history-and-disease book. First read it as a teen many many years ago, and it probably played a part in focusing my interest in biology. Dr Zinsser shines through on every page, making it highly readable as well as good science (and sociology) history.
I highly recommend it.

4 people found this helpful

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Metallurgist

A classic, but in my opinion somewhat overrated and out of date

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2010

When I came across a copy of this book I was anxious to read it as I recognized it as a classic. Unfortunately, my ardor was quickly extinguished because I feel that the book is somewhat overrated and out of date. More about why I feel this way shortly, but first let me tell you how this book is organized and the subject presented.

This is the classic presentation of the biology and impact of Typhus on history. It is told in a personal style, in my opinion perhaps too personal. The first three chapters (covering about 50 pages) are devoted to the author's explanation of why he wrote the book, an apology for writing it and a discussion of the origin of life. To say I was disappointed with these three chapters, which I would rate, at best, as one star, is an understatement. They are pretentious, rambling and worst of all, uninteresting. Given the fact that this book is considered a classic, I decided to continue. Fortunately, from my perspective, the book got a bit better. The next 100 or so pages are devoted to the history of many epidemic diseases. Professor Zinsser's stated objective for including this material is to show that these diseases were not Typhus. Unfortunately, while better than the first 50 pages, I found the presentation to still be pretentious and to ramble on a bit, but in my opinion it did raise the level of the book to two stars. The final 150 pages are actually devoted to the subject of Typhus and were significantly improved over the first 150 pages, but in my opinion raising the book to only a three star level.

Why do I rate this book as only three stars?
1) As stated above, I was not impressed with the first half of the book. There are many much better treatments of epidemic disease. So, in my opinion, the reader is only getting half a book.
2) Professor Zinsser lets his personal biases pervade the text to an extent that I found distracting and in some places offensive. For instance, he equates New York Irish and Italian politicians of the1930's (when this book was written) with barbarian tribes destroying the Roman Empire.
3) Professor Zinsser also takes on a pretentious, and snide tone that I did not feel was at all appropriate. For instance, he uses the term saprophyte (according to my dictionary - any organism that lives on dead organic matter, as certain fungi and bacteria) and instead of explaining what this means in the text or in a footnote he uses a footnote to state - "If the reader does not understand this word it is too bad." In my opinion this is no way to treat a general reader who is trying to learn something about a subject for which you are an expert.
4) Much of the book was, in my opinion, not sufficiently focused and tended to ramble.
5) The biology, which was up to date in 1934, is now quite out of date. For instance, the disease organism that produces Typhus (Rickettsia) are referred to as being viruses, which they are not. Given that they are quite different from the bacteria that a 1930's bacteriologist was familiar with, this is not a surprising error, and reflects the poor understanding of viruses and not a lack of knowledge on the part of Professor Zinsser. He actually gets it right in that he feels that Rickettsia are bacteria or closely related to them.
6) There is no index or bibliography and only a few footnotes. To make matters worse, Professor Zinsser continually refers to authors and books, that are not referenced in enough detail to enable reader a to find them to do further reading. (In most cases there is no detail, except for the name of the author.) The book is thus made much less useful for those seeking a fuller understanding of the subject.

Why, given the problems listed above, do I think that this book disserves even three stars? In spite of the above listed problems, there are some redeeming features in this book, but in my opinion, not enough to raise it more than three stars. I liked the following:
1) There is a very nice presentation of the idea that given time diseases and their hosts tend to reach a state of toleration, reducing the virulence of the disease. He gives many examples of cases where diseases are much less virulent today than in the past and cases where people who had no prior contact with the disease experienced a much greater mortality. A good example of this is the measles, which is (or was before inoculation against it) a childhood disease with a low mortality for a western society, but was highly lethal one for a society who had not been previously exposed to it. We now understand, given a much better understanding of genetics, why this is the case, but Zinsser's discussion is still worthwhile.
2) Professor Zinsser addresses the problem of transmission of Typhus from rat flea to human in addition to the more typical human-to-human transmission via body lice. This alternate route is important because it can explain the transmission over long distances (where all the humans and lice might be dead before the end of the journey) and as alternate reservoirs to contain the disease between epidemics.
3) Many other histories ignore the influence of disease on historical events and this book, to some degree, corrects this omission, especially with regard to Typhus.
4) Professor Zinsser makes the case the epidemic Typhus did not exist before the 15th century, although sporadic cases may have been reported much earlier. This is not, however, a universally held belief.
5) This is the classic history of the influence of Typhus on history and is the primary reference for others covering the impact of disease on history. As such, it is an important reference, but one whose usefulness is diminished by the lack of references.

All in all, at best, I found this to be a three star book and one whose audience is limited. Because of the style and rambling nature of much of the book it is not a very good choice for the general reader and the lack of references makes its usefulness limited for specialists. It is probably best for those who have heard of it and therefore want to read it first hand, but they are likely, as I was, to be disappointed.

6 people found this helpful

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S.Challis

A Compelling Read

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2013

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I love this book! Originally published in 1934, it has withstood the test of time. Clearly, the writer loves his subject. His writing is sly, witty and informative, as he draws the reader in to a growing appreciation of this unusual subject.

5 people found this helpful

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R. Maxwell

This book met all of my expectations, and more ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2016

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This book met all of my expectations, and more. It was interesting to read the stories of how diseases and parasites had played major roles in the history of the world. A fascinating book.

6 people found this helpful

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RD in Arizona

Required summer read in high school

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2019

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This book changed my life I suspect. It was a required read on the summer reading list somewhere along the way when I was in high school in the mid 1960's. I was recently sharing its importance with a young relative still in high school. At the time I don't believe I understood WHEN it had been written! Whoa, now that I'm retired after 40 some years as a college professor I return to see how it influenced me. Not an easy read, but knowing a bit more about the history of the sciences I'm enjoying the reread! I doubt very much I got any of the "humor" in it back then....

5 people found this helpful

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TR

Ilness is not a punishment

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2015

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Studying it and taking a class on the Sociology of health and Illness really helped me understand the nature of disease. I wrote a paper for college on this book and received a 98!

2 people found this helpful

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Elizabeth A. Alvord

Enlightening

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2013

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Not every book leaves you wiser than when you began. This one does. It makes sense out of the bits and pieces of history that are often neglected by the historians.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Chiara Zanforlini

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2017

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perfect thanks

One person found this helpful

Brian M Merritt

Much more than the title states

Reviewed in Canada on January 23, 2014

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I discovered this book when I read Laurie Garrett's "THE COMING PLAGUE: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance", she listed it in the bibliography. Intrigued by the title I looked for it and found it to be more about humanities penchant for war and destruction than a book about disease. Although it was a real page turner it made me think just how much rats and humans have in common and how absolutely stupid war truly is. There is no purpose what so ever to war it destroys what laboring hands and minds make and causes the increase of typhus on the battle field of dead rotting humans(once alive living, laughing, loving, learning and breathing). This book was written a long time ago in the 30's and I wonder how different the writers views on war were met by other scholars of his day. Thank you professor Zinsser, I will never forget this great book and I often tell others to read it too.

Sue B

Delivered on time and in v good condition.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2014

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Interesting and informative book. Delivered on time and in v good condition.

Anne m Newell

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2014

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Rambling waffle. Hard to get to the point.

One person found this helpful

Robert Cruise

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on September 21, 2015

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This book is a hoot as well as a thought-provoking thesis regarding what kills people or makes them suffer.

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