| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.3

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 196 words from this article are provided below; about 471 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Robert Boyd. The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline among Northwest Coast Indians, 1774–1874. Seattle: University of Washington Press. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver. 1999. Pp. xv, 403. $50.00.

Just when you think there is nothing left to say about disease in Indian country, along comes Robert Boyd. True, Northwest Coast demographic history has been little explored except by Boyd himself over some twenty years. But by now, one should be able to predict the narrative in any part of North America: in a terrible onslaught, novel microbes arriving with Europeans caused epidemics killing thousands of indigenous people lacking immunity, effective preventive measures, and adequate treatment. When the diseases arrived, initially they struck what is commonly called virgin soil. They were truly horrifying; it is nearly impossible today to comprehend what it must have been like to be a member of a community struggling to contain novel sickness that defied known remedies. Ultimately the diseases also defied familiar explanations, and native people were far more open to conversion to the religions of the new people who did not die. . . .

There are about 471 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.