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| Author | Hans Zinsser |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | typhus, history, epidemics |
| Genre | popular science |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
Publication date | 1935 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 301 |
| ISBN | 0316988960 |
Rats, Lice and History is a 1935 book written by biologist Hans Zinsser on the subject of typhus, a disease on which he performed significant research. Zinsser frames the book as a biography of the infectious disease, tracing its path through history. An important theme of the book is the (according to Zinsser, underappreciated) effect infectious diseases such as typhus had on the course of history, a topic which would later be treated in other popular works such as Plagues and Peoples and Guns, Germs and Steel.
Written for a lay audience, Zinsser's humorous and literate style was well received by readers, and it was widely read on its release, and has since gone through many editions.