Overview

Dr. Steven Hatch first came to Liberia in November 2013, to work at a hospital in Monrovia. Six months later, several of the physicians Dr. Hatch had mentored and served with were dead or barely clinging to life, and Ebola had become a world health emergency. Hundreds of victims perished each week; whole families were destroyed in a matter of days; so many died so quickly that the culturally taboo practice of cremation had to be instituted to dispose of the bodies. With little help from the international community and a population ravaged by disease and fear, the war-torn African nation was simply unprepared to deal with the catastrophe. A physician's memoir about the ravages of a terrible disease and the small hospital that fought to contain it, Inferno also explains the science of Ebola: how it is transmitted and spreads so quickly. And as Dr. Hatch notes, while Ebola is now under control, it will inevitably reemerge-as will other plagues, notably the Zika virus, which the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency. Inferno is a glimpse into the white-hot center of a crisis that will come again.

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9781441792624

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Reviews

Hatch's testimony is a useful addition to the popular literature about the Ebola outbreak. [His] analysis is intelligent, nuanced, and tempered, a necessary departure from the panicked response of most American media outlets. -- Kirkus Reviews An outstandingly well-written, page-turning memoir...Nothing short of a literary miracle...This is a masterful work that deserves sharp notice. -- Booklist (starred review) Searing stories of death, hope, and heartbreak...Hatch's writing is elegant, and at times deeply moving. -- Library Journal (starred review) A compassionate, clear-eyed, and courageous account of how compassionate medical care proves a formidable force against the ravages of Ebola. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) This well-researched study is the best book on the subject and should be required reading for medical community and policy-makers. -- Washington Book Review With straightforward prose, his work goes beyond what most Americans watched on nightly news by examining the scientific, political, social, and religious implications of the disease. -- Washington Post Dr. Steven Hatch sounds engaging and honest as he recounts his experience in Bong County, Liberia...He describes the searing heat and the dripping sweat of wearing protective clothing, the difficulty of developing a doctor-patient relationship in the absence of touch, and the need to memorize medical records in a sterile environment. Hatch's respect for his co-workers and patients is clearly evident in his voice. So is his frustration with demonizing politicians and incompetent bureaucratic policies for medical personnel returning to the US...This is an absorbing production. -- AudioFile

Hatch's testimony is a useful addition to the popular literature about the Ebola outbreak. [His] analysis is intelligent, nuanced, and tempered, a necessary departure from the panicked response of most American media outlets. -- Kirkus Reviews An outstandingly well-written, page-turning memoir...Nothing short of a literary miracle...This is a masterful work that deserves sharp notice. -- Booklist (starred review) Searing stories of death, hope, and heartbreak...Hatch's writing is elegant, and at times deeply moving. -- Library Journal (starred review) A compassionate, clear-eyed, and courageous account of how compassionate medical care proves a formidable force against the ravages of Ebola. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) This well-researched study is the best book on the subject and should be required reading for medical community and policy-makers. -- Washington Book Review Dr. Steven Hatch sounds engaging and honest as he recounts his experience in Bong County, Liberia...He describes the searing heat and the dripping sweat of wearing protective clothing, the difficulty of developing a doctor-patient relationship in the absence of touch, and the need to memorize medical records in a sterile environment. Hatch's respect for his co-workers and patients is clearly evident in his voice. So is his frustration with demonizing politicians and incompetent bureaucratic policies for medical personnel returning to the US...This is an absorbing production. -- AudioFile With straightforward prose, his work goes beyond what most Americans watched on nightly news by examining the scientific, political, social, and religious implications of the disease. -- Washington Post

Author Information

Dr. Steven Hatch is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, specializing in infectious disease and immunology. In 2013-2014, Dr. Hatch lived and worked in Liberia as one of the few Western doctors fighting the Ebola epidemic. His work in Liberia was featured in the New York Times, 60 Minutes, CNN with Anderson Cooper, and elsewhere.

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