# Books on Leprosy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814 "2004-11-27T01:27:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/1 "2004-11-27T01:27:22Z")
I’m doing a research paper on leprosy, and my teacher has told me that we should try to keep internet and encyclopedia research to a minimum. I’ve been looking for books on leprosy, and I’ve found a fair amount of fiction, but not too much non-fiction. I know such books exist, because I remember reading at least one, although I don’t think either was entirely on leprosy. One was in a book of “medical mysteries” and the other was all about different diseases and how they’ve come to be treated in modern times. It had leprosy and tuberculosis and some others. If these sound familiar, or you know of others, I would greatly appreciate your help. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/2 "2004-11-27T01:39:36Z")
Fiction: _The Leper of St. Giles_ by Ellis Peters. Murder mystery in the Brother Cadfael series. Part of the plot revolves around the treatment of lepers and others with contagious diseases in 12th century England. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/3 "2004-11-27T01:40:08Z")
Mark Twain wrote about Molokai and the situation there (lepers were banished to this Hawaiian island). ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/4 "2004-11-27T01:47:58Z")
Hmm. Those both sound good, and I’ll check them out. The paper is really about how both treatment of the disease and of the people who has it has changed over time. I believe I actually own the medical mysteries book, and I think I know where it is, too. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/5 "2004-11-27T03:44:02Z")
Alan Brennert, an excellent writer, published a novel last year also titled _Moloka’i_. You should also look up Father Damien, the priest who ministered to the lepers at the colony there. At least a half dozen biographies of him are available. I’m not sure what you mean by looking for books, but the catalog of the Kansas City Public Library lists a number of nonfiction titles when I search for leprosy, and so does Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/6 "2004-11-27T04:02:02Z")
I believe the US has/had a leprosy sanitarium in the state of Louisiana. Perhaps a call to their state department of health may get you some info helpful for your project. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/7 "2004-11-27T05:48:46Z")
Whoa, that would be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/8 "2004-11-27T14:45:07Z")
[Here’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385489110/qid=1101566612/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-4043389-3911149) a bio of Father Damien written by John Farrow, father of Mia. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/9 "2004-11-27T15:01:34Z")
I would check out the new beta test [www.scholar.google.com](http://www.scholar.google.com) where a search like “leprosy treatment” will find papers like [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1365-3156.2000.00579.x/full/](http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1365-3156.2000.00579.x/full/) Hardly anyone I know even knows that it exists. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/10 "2004-11-27T15:12:21Z")
Here’s a list of books/print aricles on the treatment of Leprosy. Hastings RC (ed): Leprosy, 2nd ed, Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1994. WHO Expert Committee on Leprosy, Seventh Report. WHO Tech Rep Ser No 874, WHO, Geneva, 1998. Jacobson RR, Yoder, LJ: “Bacterial Infections of Humans, Epidemiology and Control”, In Evans AS, Brachman PS (eds) Leprosy, New York, Plenum, 377-93, 1998. Jacobson RR, Krahenbuhl JL: Seminar on Leporsy, The Lancet, 353:655-660, 1999. These are written by doctors for doctors. Is this what you need? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/11 "2004-11-27T15:16:48Z")
Two fictional books that haven’t been mentioned are [Papillon](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060934794/qid=1101568578/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-2337407-0942330) and url=“[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345348656/104-2337407-0942330?v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345348656/104-2337407-0942330?v=glance)”]The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/12 "2004-11-27T15:18:35Z")
Interestingly, there are still a few people left living in the colony where Damien spent his life. When they die, the colony will be converted to a national park IIRC. His is a very interesting story, read up on him even if you don’t use the info. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/13 "2004-11-27T15:19:09Z")
[The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345348656/104-2337407-0942330?v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/14 "2004-11-27T15:24:12Z")
> [@quiltguy154](#): > > I believe the US has/had a leprosy sanitarium in the state of Louisiana. [These](http://bphc.hrsa.gov/nhdp/NHD_MUSEUM_HISTORY.htm) are the people to contact. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/15 "2004-11-27T19:52:10Z")
You guys are super awesome the best. I knew I could count on Dopers. BTW, I read one Thomas Covenant book and hated it. He was a total jerk and a rapist to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-on-leprosy/276814/16 "2004-11-27T19:55:38Z")
I may not know much, but I know more about leprosy than the average doper :eek: NB, if you’re ever in Norway, check out the stuffed armadillo in the leprosy museum in Bergen.