Malaria existed in Greece since prehistoric times. Its prevalence fluctuated depending on climatic, socioeconomic and political changes. The book focuses on the factors that contributed to the spreading of the disease in the years between independent statehood in 1830 and the elimination of malaria in the 1970s. By the nineteenth century, Greece was the most malarious country in Europe and the one most heavily infected with its lethal form, falciparum malaria. Owing to pressures on the environment from economic development, agrarian colonization and heightened mobility, the situation became so serious that malaria became a routine part of everyday life for practically all Greek families, further exacerbated by wars. The country’s highly fragmented geography and its variable rainfall distribution created an environment that was ideal for sustaining and spreading the disease. These factors, in turn, affected the tolerance of the population to malaria. In their struggle with physical suffering and death, the Greeks developed a culture of avid quinine consumption and were likewise eager to embrace the DDT spraying campaign of the immediate post WWII years, which, overall, had a positive demographic effect.ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Malaria: An Ancient and Global Disease Chapter 2: The Fragmented Geography of the Disease Chapter 3: Malaria in Peace and War Chapter 4: Patients, Doctors, and Cures ConclusionReviewed in American Historical Review 125:3 (June 2020) by Andrew Robarts https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhz686 Bulletin of the History of Medicine 94:2 (Summer 2020) by Jesse Bump https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2020.0049 Hungarian Historical Review 8:4 (2019) by Róbert Balogh http://www.hunghist.org/82-book-reviews/606-2019-4-reviewsJournal of Modern Greek Studies by David Idol https://doi.org/10.1353/mgs.2019.0024Medical History by Lion Murard https://doi.org/10.1017/mdh.2019.68Social History of Medicine by Vassiliki Theodorou https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkz008Technology and Culture 62:1 (January 2021) by Daniel Gallardo-Albarrán https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2021.0025Μνήμων 36 (2017-2018) by Vangelis Karamanolakis