An American Plague: the True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)

AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 JIM MURPHY. Clarion, $17 (176p) ISBN 0-395-77608-2

In marked contrast to the clipped, suspenseful pace of his Inside the Alamo (reviewed above), Murphy here adopts a leisurely, lyrical tone to chronicle the invisible spread of the deadly disease that not only crippled Philadelphia (then the temporary capital of the U.S.) but also set off a constitutional crisis. The author evokes the stifling August heat as well as the boiling controversy surrounding President Washington's decision not to support the French in the war against Britain. The residents, so distracted by the controversy, …