Times and Tides of Tuberculosis

Book excerpt: This is a study of changing attitudes—of patients, the medical community, and society in general—towards tuberculosis, over the course of a century and a half. As TB became better understood scientifically, treatment of the disease changed for the better, and the attitudes became more hopeful. This book illustrates these changing attitudes with the life stories and sample works of well-known writers—novelists, essayists, and poets. Not all of these writers had TB themselves, but they all were well enough acquainted with the disease to write about it eloquently. This added dimension gives the book another identity: in addition to medical and social history, Times and Tides of Tuberculosis offers literary history and criticism