In 1768, with smallpox ravaging Russia, Catherine the Great sent for an English Quaker doctor, Thomas Dimsdale, who had developed a pioneering treatment: inoculation with the disease itself to create an immunity. Using Dimsdale family correspondence and his wife Elizabeth’s journal, Lucy Ward offers a gripping account of this medically and politically perilous mission, as Catherine volunteered to set an example to her people by becoming a patient herself.
'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
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https://www.psbooks.co.uk/the-empress-and-the-english-doctor538875The Empress and the English Doctorhttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/538875_media-0_3.jpg8.998.99GBPInStock/History/History/Categories/Modern History/History/Categories/Social History/History/Highlights/Kings, Queens & Emperors/Almost Gone/Almost Gone History/Almost Gone/Almost Gone Non-FictionIn 1768, with smallpox ravaging Russia, Catherine the Great sent for an English Quaker doctor, Thomas Dimsdale, who had developed a pioneering treatment: inoculation with the disease itself to create an immunity. Using Dimsdale family correspondence and his wife Elizabeth’s journal, Lucy Ward offers a gripping account of this medically and politically perilous mission, as Catherine volunteered to set an example to her people by becoming a patient herself.Hardback00https://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/538875_media-1_3.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/538875_0227.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/538875_0228.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/538875_media-2.jpgadd-to-cartrrp_info:£20.00productId:160266bic_code:BGH, HBJD, HBLL, HBTBBGH, HBJD, HBLL, HBTB£20.00Lucy WardGeneral240x160mmOneworldNoHardbackEuropean
