A TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022 SO FAR
Shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2022
‘Sparkling history…with a fairytale atmosphere of sleigh rides, royal palaces and heroic risk-taking’ The Times
A killer virus…an all-powerful Empress…an encounter cloaked in secrecy…the astonishing true story.
Within living memory, smallpox was a dreaded disease. Over human history it has killed untold millions. Back in the eighteenth century, as epidemics swept Europe, the first rumours emerged of an effective treatment: a mysterious method called inoculation.
But a key problem remained: convincing people to accept the preventative remedy, the forerunner of vaccination. Arguments raged over risks and benefits, and public resistance ran high. As smallpox ravaged her empire and threatened her court, Catherine the Great took the momentous decision to summon the Quaker physician Thomas Dimsdale to St Petersburg to carry out a secret mission that would transform both their lives. Lucy Ward expertly unveils the extraordinary story of Enlightenment ideals, female leadership and the fight to promote science over superstition.
‘A rich and wonderfully urgent work of history’ Tristram Hunt

eBook - ePub
The Empress and the English Doctor
How Catherine the Great defied a deadly virus
- 336 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Information
Subtopic
Early Modern HistoryIndex
HistoryTable of contents
- Cover
- Praise for The Empress and the English Doctor
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Note on names, places and dates
- Contents
- Map
- Preface: The Silver Lancet
- Introduction: The Speckled Monster
- 1 The Doctor
- 2 The Deadly Lottery
- 3 The Empress
- 4 The Invitation
- 5 The Preparations
- 6 The Inoculations
- 7 The New Fashion
- 8 The Impact
- 9 The Celebrity
- 10 The Last Meeting
- Epilogue: The Legacy
- Acknowledgements
- Further Reading
- Notes
- Imprint Page
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Yes, you can access The Empress and the English Doctor by Lucy Ward in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Early Modern History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.