Asleep cover art

Asleep

The Forgotten Epidemic That Became Medicine’s Greatest Mystery

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Asleep

By: Molly Caldwell Crosby
Narrated by: Christian Rummel
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About this listen

A fascinating look at a bizarre, forgotten epidemic from the national best-selling author of The American Plague. In 1918, a world war raged, and a lethal strain of influenza circled the globe. In the midst of all this death, a bizarre disease appeared in Europe. Eventually known as encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness, it spread worldwide, leaving millions dead or locked in institutions. Then, in 1927, it disappeared as suddenly as it arrived. Asleep, set in 1920s and '30s New York, follows a group of neurologists through hospitals and asylums as they try to solve this epidemic and treat its victims - who learned the worst fate was not dying of it, but surviving it.

©2011 Molly Caldwell Crosby (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Americas Brain & Nervous System Contagious Diseases History History & Commentary History & Philosophy Medicine & Health Care Industry Physical Illness & Disease Science United States World Medicine Health War Health Care Human Brain Mental Health

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All stars
Most relevant
I expected a case history of a patient but this was more a belated history lesson

disappointing

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