"As suspenseful as it is moving, Lon Wagner's The Fever gives veterans of our modern-day pandemic a historic and page-turning primer on another outbreak that took place a century and a half ago. Fans of Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders and Hampton Sides's In the Kingdom of Ice will find much to admire in the voices of ordinary people who took on so many challenges in the face of grave danger and almost certain death. A riveting, meticulously researched account."-Beth Macy, author of Dopesick "Lon Wagner's The Fever is a riveting account of the deadliest epidemic in American history: the Yellow Fever outbreak of 1855. His compelling narrative brings to life the extraordinary courage and compassion, as well as the stark challenges, faced by the residents of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, [when confronted] with a disease that may have been up to 100 times deadlier than COVID-19. [This] is a story of resilience, generosity, and selflessness, as well as human frailty and fear, in the face of an unknown and relentless enemy. It is a gripping account honoring the indomitable human spirit and reminding us that the past is prologue."-Ron Fricker, professor of statistics, author of Monitoring the Health of Populations by Tracking Disease Outbreaks: Saving Humanity from the Next Plague