The Fever of 1721 is Stephen Coss's first book. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
"The Fever of 1721 skillfully reveals early Americans who
challenged both the dominant political order and prevailing
scientific ideas about disease. That rebelliousness--embodied in
bold figures like Rev. Cotton Mather, Dr. Boylston, and the
teenaged Ben Franklin--would lead directly to revolution before the
century was out."--David O. Stewart, author of Madison's Gift and
The Summer of 1787
"The Fever of 1721 is an all-American tale: a fire-and-brimstone
minister, sensational media, hardball politics, a health panic.
Stephen Coss depicts an uproarious colonial past not unlike our
present."--Richard Brookhiser, author of Founders' Son: A Life of
Abraham Lincoln
"Intelligent and sweeping . . . The people portrayed in this public
health story, their struggles and interactions, feel at once
intimate and urgent, thanks to Coss' lucid telling of this
fascinating story."-- "Booklist"
"As Stephen Coss shows in his deeply researched account, The Fever
of 1721, Boston society divided along lines that we would not
expect today . . . Smallpox was finally eradicated in 1979, but our
current politics demonstrate that the tensions between personal
freedom and public health that erupted in Boston in 1721 have yet
to be fully resolved."-- "The Wall Street Journal"
"Coss's gem of colonial history immerses readers into 18th-century
Boston and introduces a collection of fascinating people and
intriguing circumstances. The author's masterly work intertwines
Boston's smallpox epidemic with the development of New England
Courant publisher James Franklin's radical press. . . . Unlike many
other works on colonial America . . . Coss's focus on a specific
location at a specific time fleshes out the complex and exciting
scene in sharp detail, creating a historical account that is
fascinating, informational, and pleasing to read."-- "Library
Journal, starred review"
"In 1721, Boston was a dangerous place . . . In Coss's telling, the
troubles of 1721 represent a shift away from a colony of faith and
toward the modern politics of representative government." -- "The
New York Times Book Review"
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