The Case of London (England), 1854
Queen Victoria reigns. London is growing rapidly; it is a bustling political and economic capital that rules the world's largest empire.
August 31 - cholera is first reported in the city.
September 4 -the cholera outbreak has become an epidemic and has claimed 127 lives. Most of the cases are clustered in one neighbourhood in the Soho district; the others are scattered widely across London.
September 7 - about three-quarters of the residents of the most seriously affected neighbourhood have fled their homes in an attempt to save themselves; most of them have already lost at least one family member to cholera.
End of September - the epidemic has finally subsided. The death toll has reached 616.
During and after the epidemic, John Snow, a doctor who lives near the most seriously affected area, investigates the causes of the outbreak. He publishes an account of his work, so we know how he carried out his investigation.
Dr. Snow favours a new and still controversial theory about how cholera infections spread. What is this theory?
