A data-rich, well-written, authoritative work. - E. Wellin, Choice In this important and comprehensive work, Robert Boyd shows how successive waves of introduced diseases not only decimated many of the societies of the Northwest Coast, but also had significant impacts on those societies' ability to cope with the changes wrought by contact with the very groups who introduced the diseases... As a model for studies of other parts of North and South America, this engaging, scholarly work provides important insights into understanding what has historically been portrayed as the 'conquest'. - David Mardiros, CBRA 4205, pp 355 Boyd clearly aims to further the scholarly dialogue with a clear, honest, and transparent presentation of his findings... One of the most promising aspects of Boyd's work is the degree to which he has uncovered evidence that addresses the consequences of disease epidemics apart form that of the demographic collapse... Boyd's book is very useful in that it gives detailed reconstructions of the spread of diseases on the Northwest Coast between 1774 and 1874, and it presents intriguing qualitative evidence about the effects of these diseases upon the Natives of that region and about the responses of those people to these scourges. - Theodore Binnema, Recent H-Net Reviews