Historical Nonfiction Author
Historical Nonfiction Author
Narrative history exploring the existential moral questions of medicine, industry, and human survival — two true stories, told from the archives and from the bedside.
Price
$29.95
Format
Hardcover & Digital
Publisher
Prometheus Books
Published
January 6, 2026
Pages
248
ISBN-13
978-1493088058
Case No. 1788 · Manhattan
Body snatching sparks bloody revolt!
Throughout the seventeenth century, medical lecturers demonstrated human anatomy by dissecting a cadaver while surrounded by students. After the Revolutionary War, though, instructors realized they needed many more cadavers to serve a growing number of medical students. Enter the “resurrectionists”—body snatchers.
In April 1788, word of one particular body snatching quickly spread, and over the course of days, thousands of New Yorkers descended upon a New York City anatomy lab in a growing and dangerous riot against doctors and their students. In this fascinating history, Andy McPhee reveals the forgotten story of the so-called Doctors’ Riot of 1788, along the way explaining the history of body snatching and exploring the moral questions behind an existential medical crisis: Does the need for medical students to learn anatomy on cadavers override society’s demand for maintaining the dignity of its dead?
As the Doctors’ Riot boiled over, Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and John Jay as well as Revolutionary War hero Baron von Steuben were called in to quell the rioters, to no avail. Eventually, the state militia was ordered to fire into the crowd, killing several and injuring far more.
The Doctors’ Riot of 1788 traces the foundational changes spurred by the riot, the formation of Black-only churches and graveyards, how the discovery of formaldehyde heralded a new era in embalming practices, what body snatching looks like today, and how the teaching of anatomy continues to change and adapt to new technologies.
Available At
Prometheus Books — $29.95
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Reviews
“The Doctors’ Riot of 1788 is a cogent account of a populist rebellion against the evil perceived in that era’s medical and scientific elite, to be commended for its broad and painstaking research, balanced narrative, and for engaging the reader with every turn of the page.”
Mark Frazier Lloyd, University Archivist Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania
“McPhee lends a jaunty energy to the ‘tawdry trade of body snatching’ with a host of odd anecdotes, a murderer’s row of characters and lively prose. Doctors’ Riot of 1788 is a rich, detailed history that is also ghoulishly fun to read.”
Booklist
“With an enchanting vividness, McPhee tells the story of New York in its colonial days, when familiar institutions were then new and the people whom city streets and landmarks are named for were still walking the earth. The author places his account in the medical, cultural, and racial context of the time. A brief, fast-paced history, loaded with surprising detail.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A great science read that tackles a surprisingly wide variety of topics with anatomy as the eye of the storm, and I can promise if you were intrigued by the cover, you’ll love the contents as well!”
OffServiceBookRecs
Price
$24.95
Format
Softcover & Digital
Publisher
Univ. of Pittsburgh Press
Published
March 28, 2023
Pages
324
ISBN-13
978-0822966715
Foreword
Jennifer Richmond-Bryant
Case No. 1948 · Pennsylvania
When fog turned deadly.
Donora Death Fog is a true, highly detailed account of the worst air pollution disaster in US history. In October 1948, a seemingly average fog descended on the tiny mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania. With a population of fewer than fifteen thousand, the town’s main industry was steel and zinc mills – mills that continually emitted pollutants into the air. The six-day smog event left twenty-one people dead and thousands sick. Even after the fog lifted, hundreds more died or were left with lingering health problems.
Donora Death Fog details how six fateful days in Donora led to the nation’s first clean air act in 1955, and how such catastrophes can lead to successful policy change. Andy McPhee tells the very human story behind this ecological disaster: how wealthy industrialists built the mills to supply an ever-growing America; how the town’s residents—millworkers and their families—willfully ignored the danger of the mills’ emissions; and how the gradual closing of the mills over the years following the tragedy took its toll on the town.
Amazon readers have awarded the book an average of 4.8 stars.
Available At
University of Pittsburgh Press — $24.95
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Reviews
“Skillfully highlighting the bravery of the men and women who aided the afflicted and prevented the calamity from claiming more lives, McPhee offers a retelling of real-life drama that’s both compelling and horrific from beginning to end.”
Booklist
“I am grateful for the author’s ability to weave the personal stories of those affected with the more technical and factual components of how this tragedy unfolded and led to better protections for the air we breathe. Donora Death Fog is a great read and I highly recommend it.”
Beth Darcy, Education Administrator
“[McPhee] has done a remarkable job of creating personal narratives intermixed with historical context in such a way that is compelling, yet informative, for general and expert readers alike.”
Trent Honda, Northeastern University
“It was a wonderful surprise to discover such a compelling work of narrative nonfiction—in truly a well-told and thoughtfully rendered story, hewing close to Erik Larson in style while delivering the rigor of academia in its reportage.”
Tim Maddocks
Book Clubs & Events
Andy joins book club discussions virtually and in person, and speaks to historical societies, medical humanities programs, and podcasts.
Media & Public Lectures
Materials for podcast interviews, keynote addresses, historical society lectures, and book club discussions.
High-Resolution Author Headshots
Print and digital press photos (Color & B&W versions).
300 DPI Cover Art
Both The Doctors’ Riot of 1788 and Donora Death Fog.
Short, Medium & Extended Biographies
Formulated for podcast introductions, conference guides, and book reviews.
Suggested Discussion & Interview Questions
Curated for literary hosts, environmental podcasts, and historical roundtables.
Topic 01
How medical education in early America clashed with religious sanctities and sparked one of the nation’s earliest recorded urban riots.
Topic 02
Lessons in industrial oversight, corporate accountability, and grassroots resilience following America’s deadliest air disaster.
Topic 03
How decades in critical care medicine and professional textbook editing shaped an authorial voice grounded in truth and humanity.
