Taut and engrossing, Steven Johnson’s ‘The Ghost Map’ is a rollicking multidisciplinary romp through Victorian London’s scientific, cultural and medical evolution. Johnson’s focal point is a devastating–indeed, decimating–1854 cholera outbreak in Soho, which becomes a crucible of the nascent field of epidemiology and highlights the stark changes in science throughout the mid-19th century.

Johnson paints a picture of early Victorian London as a place of quack doctors, scientific misunderstanding and cultural prejudice. Indeed, outbreaks of cholera and other infectious diseases were seen as wafting in on waves of the city’s stench–miasmas–and affecting mostly those of ‘lesser quality’, the vast masses of urban poor living in crowded squalor cheek-by-jowl with open sewers.

By contrast, our hero, sleuth-doctor-researcher John Snow, is turning the medical community on its ear by suggesting that cholera might be, somehow, ‘in the water.’ His detective work is aided by a surprising sidekick, local clergyman Henry Whitehead. It is, as you might imagine, an uphill battle to topple what is presumed as medical fact: things that smell bad make you sick.

Johnson’s attention rarely seems to wander, and the momentum of the story is nearly unrelenting. He takes crisp, intriguing side trips into related subjects, but consistently keeps his eye on the ball. As a result, the book is an absolute page-turner. He even manages to describe the deplorable sanitary conditions of 19th century London without sounding like he’s trying for shock value–a real skill.

Highly recommended.