Nary a Horse Left Standing
How a Nineteenth-Century Epidemic Transformed Medicine, Animal Welfare, and the Modern City
$84.97
- Hardcover
264 pages
- Release Date
6 October 2026
Summary
In the 1870s, horses were the lifeblood of North American cities. New York, Boston, Chicago, and Toronto relied on tens of thousands of workhorses to power daily life. Then, in late 1872 and into 1873, a devastating outbreak of horse flu—known as The Great Epizootic—swept across the continent.
In Nary a Horse Left Standing, Lee Dugatkin chronicles this little-known crisis, revealing how the epidemic disrupted nearly every aspect of urban life. From coast to coast, livelihoods…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262054546 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 026205454X |
| Author: | Lee Alan Dugatkin |
| Publisher: | MIT Press Ltd |
| Imprint: | MIT Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 264 |
| Release Date: | 6 October 2026 |
| Weight: | 567g |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
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Critics Review
ENDORSEMENTS
“Dugatkin has a flair for storytelling and an uncanny gift for unearthing hidden stories. This book is both meticulous and lively.”
—Edward Dolnick, author of Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party
“Nary a Horse Left Standing is a remarkable story of our never-ending battle with infectious disease and scientists’ determination to figure out the world around us. It’s a fascinating book—and one that matters.”
—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Poison Squad and The Poisoner’s Handbook
“There’s a saying in barns worldwide that horses—as impressive as they are—are also terrifyingly vulnerable. Dugatkin’s meticulously researched work reminds us of this fact and shows us just how much we owe this magnificent animal.”
—Wendy Williams, author of The Horse
“Dugatkin’s fascinating account of the long-forgotten horse flu of 1872 reminds us that, with animal epidemics increasingly common, we have much to learn from the past.”
—Jonathan Losos, author of The Cat’s Meow
“In vivid historical detail, Dugatkin transports readers back to a very different nineteenth-century America—where this extraordinary event forever altered urban transport and the way we think about disease.”
—William T. Taylor, author of Hoof Beats
Lee Alan Dugatkin
Lee Alan Dugatkin is Professor of Biology at the University of Louisville. He is the author of How to Tame a Fox, Power in the Wild, Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose, and Principles of Animal Behavior, among other books. He is a fellow in the Animal Behavior Society and has lectured at over 200 universities and museums across the globe. He is a contributor to Scientific American, Psychology Today, and New Scientist.
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