The Fatal Sleep

by Peter Kennedy

The Fatal Sleep focuses on the scourge of sleeping sickness in Africa. The disease, also known as Human African trypanosomiasis, is transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly which holds captive a third of the entire African continent. Peter Kennedy's story aims to raise awareness of a disease that has so far been largely neglected by the industrialised Western nations, yet is a major killer in Africa. Peter Kennedy has spent much of his like devoted to the study of sleeping sickness in Africa and gives a intense portrait of the African Portrait. Part of the income raised by sales of this book will go towards research on treating diseases like sleeping sickness.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should be of interest to anyone interested in tropical medicine or global health policy. Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) while less common than malaria is much more deadly if not treated. The treatment for late-stage disease itself kills 5% of patients. Livestock in Africa are affected as well as humans, so there are economic aspects of the disease beyond the direct effect on humans. Peter Kennedy's book is an interesting introduction to the disease including the ongoing scientific efforts in Africa and the west to develop better means of diagnosis and treatment. He also provides a sense of what it is like to do medical research in Africa. The book suffers at times from poor editing, but if approached like a conversation over dinner with a learned visitor, it makes for a fascinating read.

[Fergus · Rating 4 out of 5]

There can be no doubt about Peter Kennedy's passion for patients with trypanosomiasis, and his dedication to improving their treatment has to be admired. This book presents all the information a layman would need about the disease in a digestible fashion, and as a medical student I found the scientific writing to be a good primer for myself as well.

The book charts a career in global health well and explores the difficulties of working in resource poor countries. However, this is where the major flaw of the book becomes apparent. Kennedy notes many times that the countries he visits in Africa are very poor; he also notes many times that they are former British colonies; he also notes that the diseases that afflict them are underfunded, especially trypanosomiasis. Unfortunately he fails to draw a connection between these 3 aspects. Most of his references to the colonial past of Africa are in the form of name dropping the British 'explorers' who made their fortunes and fame on the continent, or by talking about the colonial buildings he so enjoys. Several times Kennedy refers to the 'great events' that occurred during colonial times. I found this strange fetishisation of brutal imperialist regimes very offputting, and decreased my enjoyment of the book hugely. No attempt is made to relate the history of imperial exploitation, and current neo-colonial economic activities with the poverty that makes diseases like trpyanosomiasis such a problem, and with the underfunding of diseases that primarily affect Africa.

This book is a great primer on trypanosomiasis and a good introduction to the problems faced in meeting global health needs. But the attempts to provide a broader cultural view of Africa are riddled with nostalgia for the colonial past that Kennedy seems to pine for.