This work investigates the 1885 smallpox epidemic in Montreal, questioning how a modern city failed to contain a preventable disease through the lens of social, political, and religious conflict. Michael Bliss, a prominent historian of medicine, utilizes primary archival records, contemporary newspaper accounts, and public health reports to reconstruct the crisis. He argues that the collision of French-Canadian nationalism, anti-vaccination sentiment, and municipal incompetence transformed a manageable health threat into a catastrophic urban disaster.

This text is regarded as a definitive historical account of the 1885 epidemic, noted for its meticulous research and objective analysis of a highly polarized period in Canadian history. The work serves as a significant case study for scholars interested in the intersection of public health, cultural identity, and institutional failure.