When Rats, Lice and History appeared in 1935, Hans Zinsser was a highly regarded Harvard biologist who had never written about historical events. Although he had published under a pseudonym, virtually all of his previous writings had dealt with infections and immunity and had appeared either in medical and scientific journals or in book format. Today he is best remembered as the author of Rats, Lice, and History, which gone through multiple editions and remains a masterpiece of science writing for a general readership. To Zinsser, scientific research was high adventure and the investigation of infectious disease, a field of battle. Yet at the same time he maintained a love of literature and philosophy. His goal in Rats, Lice and History was to bring science, philosophy, and literature together to establish the importance of disease, and especially epidemic infectious disease, as a major force in human affairs. Zinsser cast his work as the "biography" of a disease. In his view, infectious disease simply represented an attempt of a living organism to survive. From a human perspective, an invading pathogen was abnormal; from the perspective of the pathogen it was perfectly normal. This book is devoted to a discussion of the biology of typhus and history of typhus fever in human affairs. Zinsser begins by pointing out that the louse was the constant companion of human beings. Under certain conditions to wash or to change clothing lice proliferated. The typhus pathogen was transmitted by rat fleas to human beings, who then transmitted it to other humans and in some strains from human to human. Rats, Lice and History is a tour de force. It combines Zinsser's expertise in biology with his broad knowledge of the humanities

No topic has been discussed at greater length or with more vigor than the racial confrontations of the 1960s. Events of these years left behind hundreds dead; thousands injured and arrested, property damage beyond toll, and a population both outraged and conscience stricken. Researchers have offered a variety of explanations for this largely urban violence. Although many Americans reacted as if the violence was a new phenomenon, it was not. Racial Violence in the United States places the events of the 1960s into historical perspective. The book includes accounts of racial violence from different periods in American history, showing these disturbing events in their historical context and providing suggestive analyses of their social, psychological, and political causes and implications. Grimshaw includes reports and studies of racial violence from the slave insurrections of the seventeenth century to urban disturbances of the 1960s. The result is more than a descriptive record. Its contents not only demonstrate the historical nature of the problem but also provide a review of major theoretical points of view. The volume defines patterns in past and present disturbances, isolates empirical generalizations, and samples the substantial body of literature that has attempted to explain this ultimate form ofsocial conflict. It includes selections on the characteristics of rioters, on the ecology of riots, and on the role of law in urban violence, as well as theoretical interpretations developed by psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and other observers. The resulting volume will help interested readers better understand the violence that accompanied the attempts of black Americans to gain for themselves full equality.

No topic has been discussed at greater length or with more vigor than the racial confrontations of the 1960s. Events of these years left behind hundreds dead; thousands injured and arrested, property damage beyond toll, and a population both outraged and conscience stricken. Researchers have offered a variety of explanations for this largely urban violence. Although many Americans reacted as if the violence was a new phenomenon, it was not. Racial Violence in the United States places the events of the 1960s into historical perspective. The book includes accounts of racial violence from different periods in American history, showing these disturbing events in their historical context and providing suggestive analyses of their social, psychological, and political causes and implications. Grimshaw includes reports and studies of racial violence from the slave insurrections of the seventeenth century to urban disturbances of the 1960s. The result is more than a descriptive record. Its contents not only demonstrate the historical nature of the problem but also provide a review of major theoretical points of view. The volume defines patterns in past and present disturbances, isolates empirical generalizations, and samples the substantial body of literature that has attempted to explain this ultimate form ofsocial conflict. It includes selections on the characteristics of rioters, on the ecology of riots, and on the role of law in urban violence, as well as theoretical interpretations developed by psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and other observers. The resulting volume will help interested readers better understand the violence that accompanied the attempts of black Americans to gain for themselves full equality.

When "Rats, Lice and History" appeared in 1935, Hans Zinsser was a highly regarded Harvard biologist who had never written about historical events. Although he had published under a pseudonym, virtually all of his previous writings had dealt with infections and immunity and had appeared either in medical and scientific journals or in book format. Today he is best remembered as the author of "Rats, Lice, and History," which gone through multiple editions and remains a masterpiece of science writing for a general readership.

To Zinsser, scientific research was high adventure and the investigation of infectious disease, a field of battle. Yet at the same time he maintained a love of literature and philosophy. His goal in "Rats, Lice and History" was to bring science, philosophy, and literature together to establish the importance of disease, and especially epidemic infectious disease, as a major force in human affairs. Zinsser cast his work as the "biography" of a disease. In his view, infectious disease simply represented an attempt of a living organism to survive. From a human perspective, an invading pathogen was abnormal; from the perspective of the pathogen it was perfectly normal.

This book is devoted to a discussion of the biology of typhus and history of typhus fever in human affairs. Zinsser begins by pointing out that the louse was the constant companion of human beings. Under certain conditions-to wash or to change clothing-lice proliferated. The typhus pathogen was transmitted by rat fleas to human beings, who then transmitted it to other humans and in some strains from human to human.

"Rats, Lice and History" is a tour de force. It combines Zinsser's expertise in biology with his broad knowledge of the humanities