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Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephen Bown
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.10
You Save: $6.85 (46%)
New (12) Used (15) from $5.74
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 476102
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0312313926
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.394009
EAN: 9780312313920
ASIN: 0312313926
Publication Date: August 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Scurvy took a terrible toll in the Age of Sail, killing more sailors than were lost in all sea battles combined. The threat of the disease kept ships close to home and doomed those vessels that ventured too far from port. The willful ignorance of the royal medical elite, who endorsed ludicrous medical theories based on speculative research while ignoring the life-saving properties of citrus fruit, cost tens of thousands of lives and altered the course of many battles at sea. The cure for scurvy ranks among the greatest of human accomplishments, yet its impact on history has, until now, been largely ignored.
From the earliest recorded appearance of the disease in the sixteenth century, to the eighteenth century, where a man had only half a chance of surviving the scourge, to the early nineteenth century, when the British conquered scurvy and successfully blockaded the French and defeated Napoleon, Scurvy is a medical detective story for the ages, the fascinating true story of how James Lind (the surgeon), James Cook (the mariner), and Gilbert Blane (the gentleman) worked separately to eliminate the dreaded affliction.
Scurvy is an evocative journey back to the era of wooden ships and sails, when the disease infiltrated every aspect of seafaring life: press gangs "recruit" mariners on the way home from a late night at the pub; a terrible voyage in search of riches ends with a hobbled fleet and half the crew heaved overboard; Cook majestically travels the South Seas but suffers an unimaginable fate. Brimming with tales of ships, sailors, and baffling bureaucracy, Scurvy is a rare mix of compelling history and classic adventure story.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Prof. William Wills September 9, 2008
William Wills (Columbia, SC)
This was an excellent book and should be read by every grduate and medical student. It is a profound description what was one of the problems of the medical profesion and that still exist. Thank you for leting ne review this.
W Wills
 "Scurvy was everywhere--an ever-present arm of the Grim Reaper" August 19, 2008
mwreview (Northern California, USA)
During the Age of Sail from the time of Columbus to the steam era of the mid 19th century, scurvy was the biggest killer of men at sea, being responsible for more deaths than storms, ship wrecks, combat, and all other diseases combined. It presented a slow and agonizing death to those afflicted. It caused the degeneration of connective tissues that led to wobbly teeth, the resurfacing of old wounds and injuries, and weakness and lethargy that doom the sailor to find his resting place and await his demise. Stephen Brown's book covers the effects of scurvy on the sailor as well as on history and the long process that led to the disease finally being conquered.
Scurvy is caused by a diet deficiency of Vitamin C found mainly in ascorbic fresh fruits and vegetables (lemons being high in ascorbic acid). The maddening part about the history of scurvy, as Brown explains, is how the use of fresh fruits and vegetables had been used stave off the disease various times (even back in the 1500s) but they were not adopted as an official cure. The reasons that prevented the official acknowledgment of the true cure for scurvy are many but, in part, the delays were due to a lack of controlled studies and a clinical approach to medical research, the habit of overcrowding ships with men in anticipation of replacing the dead instead of preventing the disease, disinterest in finding a cure during certain periods of time, and politics that favored certain alleged cures (i.e. wort of malt) that actually had no effect on the disease.
Brown looks at the works of surgeon James Lind, the famous Captain James Cook, and Gilbert Blane, a physician of high social-standing, to present his story on how the medical mystery of scurvy was finally solved. The author explains the importance of the disease on world events, particularly on the American Revolution and the defeat of Napoleon.
Although the book, including epilogue, is only 217 pages, it actually could have been even more condensed as Brown repeats information a lot. Just when a point seems thoroughly covered, he'll explain it again. Sometimes the story gets bogged down by conjecture, particularly when it was discussed why wort of malt continued to be recommended as a cure (pp. 167-69).
Despite the repetition, the book is informative and well-researched. It includes illustrations, an extensive bibliography, source notes, time line, index, and an appendix which lists the amount of Vitamin C found in certain foods commonly consumed during the age of sail. This appendix is a very interesting and useful addition to the book.
 Very Interesting Treatment of a Devastating Disease February 3, 2008
Sparrowhawk (New York, NY)
This is a very interesting book that highlights the devastation wrought by scurvy and the path to discovering the cure. The author follows the paths of James Lind (the surgeon) who conducted a revolutionary experiment with potential treatments, Captain Cook (the mariner) who was one of the first captains to take his seaman's health seriously, and Gilbert Blane (the gentleman) who successfully advocated lime juice as prevention. Two common themes throughout the book are the significant history-altering impact of the disease and the plethora of unfounded and incorrect medical 'expertise.'
While there certainly are very interesting portions of the book, the author can be a bit repetitive and the structure of this book following the lives of the three individuals seems at times a bit forced. If you are interested in advancements in the Age of Sail, nothing beats Dava Sobel's Longitude.
Beating Scurvy November 27, 2007
Zecon
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've always been fascinated by the age of sail, particularly the period during the Napoleonic Wars. An incredible test of nations and the men at sea occurred during that war. Consequently I have enjoyed reading numerous fictional accounts of that war from authors such as Patrick O'Brien, Dudley Pope, and C.S. Forester. What I never fully grasped were all the reasons why the Brits were superior to the French and Spanish navies. Those authors always talked up the better training and discipline as the reason. They also pointed to the leadership purges of the French navy that occurred during the revolution. However, I intuitively recognized that there was something more to the story. The cure for scurvy was that something more. And the Brits got there first.
Brown does a fantastic job of outlining the history of scurvy and the quest for a cure in a very interesting and readable fashion. Outlining the course of scurvy at sea during the voyages of Anson and Cook, he is able to put a cost on scurvy. He details how rigid social structures prevented remedies from being taken seriously and reluctance by the Admiralty to invest in its men in terms of hygiene and diet permitted this affliction to rage for much longer than it should have. It is shocking to read how the medical professionals of the day diagnosed patients despite the evidence. When it appears that they are on the very verge of a cure, they seem to loose touch with logic and regress to useless remedies.
Brown tells the story of scurvy very well.
Fascinating social, Medical, and Historical Account on the Problem of Scurvy in the Age of Sail April 4, 2007
Dakota (Southern California)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed "Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail" by Stephen Brown. It was a fast-paced, easy-to-read, well written book about the effects of scurvy upon mariners (and world history) during the 16th-18th centuries.
I read "Scurvy" in a few hours. The book kept my interest all the way from the horrible description of scurvy's physical effects upon the human body to the individual stories about Lind, Cook, Blane, Nelson, and other historical figures who fill its pages.
"Scurvy" was full of information, both medically and historically, as well as socially. It provided a great deal of info on life on the sea during "The Age of Sail." It also easily explained the medical limitations and theories of the time, underscoring the human failings that prevented significant medical advancement. Finally, it provided rich accounts of people and events from European history that are truly interesting, making me want to learn more.
Perhaps its only failing is that it didn't cover Vitamin C in detail (or scurvy on land), though I admit that was not the draw of the book. The book was about a horrible disease that killed millions of sailors, how a few good men finally figured out how to prevent it, and what that meant to the world. Highly recommended.
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