Beyond Germs: Native Depopulation in North America . Amerind Studies in Anthropology. Edited by Catherine M. Cameron, Paul Kelton, and Alan C. Swedlund. Foreword by John Ware.

Abstract

Beyond Germs: Native Depopulation in North America . Amerind Studies in Anthropology. Edited by Catherine M. Cameron, Paul Kelton, and Alan C. Swedlund. Foreword by John Ware. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2015. xi + 276 pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, chart, notes, index. $60.00.) B eyond Germs will appeal to historians of early America, the West, American Indians, and those interested in the history of disease. Determined to demonstrate that lack of immunity to novel diseases was only one component of the explanation for population decline, these scholars aim to if not overturn then at least dislodge virgin soil epidemics as the principle explanation for the cause of American Indian population decline. Their view is that virgin soil is both simplistic and, I would add, lazy. The claim that American Indian population demise is principally explainable because of their supposed lack of immunity to Old World … Cwm6w{at}eservices.virginia.edu