Times Of Crisis: Epidemics In Sydney 1788-1900
By P.H. Curson
Published by Sydney University Press 1985 1st Edition
"Times Of Crisis: Epidemics In Sydney 1788-1900 by P.H. Curson, published by Sydney University Press in 1985, is a detailed and compelling study of the devastating epidemics that shaped the early history of colonial Sydney. Drawing upon medical records, government reports, newspapers, shipping documents and contemporary accounts, Curson reconstructs the recurring outbreaks of disease that threatened the fledgling settlement from the arrival of the First Fleet through to the close of the nineteenth century. The work examines smallpox, typhoid, scarlet fever, influenza, bubonic plague and other infectious diseases that profoundly influenced the development of public health in Australia.
Far more than a straightforward medical history, the book offers a vivid portrait of colonial Sydney itself — its overcrowded streets, inadequate sanitation, shipping networks, poverty and rapidly growing population. Curson explores how fear, quarantine measures, political responses and social inequality affected daily life during times of epidemic crisis, while also tracing the emergence of hospitals, public health boards and sanitation reforms. Richly researched and scholarly in approach, the volume remains an important contribution to Australian social and medical history, particularly for collectors interested in early Sydney, colonial administration and the evolution of healthcare.
Presented here in the 1985 first edition from Sydney University Press, this volume is bound in its original hardcover binding with illustrated dustjacket. An increasingly sought-after Australian historical study, it appeals to collectors of Australiana, medical history, Sydney colonial history and works relating to epidemics and public health in nineteenth-century Australia."
