​
AMIR A. AFKHAMI
A MODERN CONTAGION
IMPERIALISM AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN IRAN'S AGE OF CHOLERA
A Modern Contagion breaks new ground in the history of medicine, public health, and the Middle East, explaining the pivotal role of cholera in globalization, biomedical progress, and the emergence of Shi‘ite political activism in Iran.
​
Essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the sociopolitical challenges in Iran and the rest of the Islamic world in the face of unprecedented humanitarian crises and great power confrontations in the region.
Amir Afkhami has brilliantly broken new ground in the scholarship on epidemics and society. A Modern Contagion is a splendid and enlightening book.
Howard Markel, MD, PhD, University of Michigan, author of The Kelloggs
​
I marvel at the author's acute erudition, his endearing humanism, and his ability to forge a narrative that is at once sobering and suspenseful, detailed in texture, but almost breezy in tone. Revelatory; a gem of a book.
Abbas M. Milani, Stanford University, author of The Shah
​
This book masterfully fills a crucial gap in our understanding of Iran's modern history.
Abbas Amanat, Yale University, author of Iran: A Modern History
​
Richly researched and boldly argued, this is a compelling study of the making of sanitary modernity at the intersection of Europe and Asia.
John Harley Warner, Yale University, author of Against the Spirit of System
​
Scholars and students of Persian studies, the history of medicine, and sciences in Iran and the Muslim world will want to read this book. Warmly recommended.
Fabrizio Speziale, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris
