"A century ago, the third bubonic plague swept the globe, taking more than 15 million lives. The book tells the story of ten cities on five continents that were ravaged by the epidemic in it's initial years: Hong Kong and Bombay, the Asian emporiums of the British Empire where the epidemic first surfaced; Sydney, Honolulu and San Francisco, three 'pearls' of the Pacific; Buenos Aires and Rio de Janiero in South America; Alexandria and Cape town in Africa; and Porto in Europe. This book examines the plague's impact in each of these cities, on politicians, the medical and public health authorities, and especially on the citizenry, many of whom were recent migrants crammed into grim living spaces" (publisher).